1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:00:18,476 --> 00:00:23,148 (WAVES LAPPING) 4 00:00:29,612 --> 00:00:32,656 (SEAGULLS SQUAWKING) 5 00:00:46,755 --> 00:00:48,798 (WOOD CREAKING) 6 00:01:00,518 --> 00:01:04,522 ♪ (SERENE DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 7 00:01:09,694 --> 00:01:12,781 (FILM REEL RATTLING) 8 00:01:14,407 --> 00:01:17,035 NIKKI GIOVANNI: I don't remember a lot of things. 9 00:01:17,077 --> 00:01:19,037 But a lot of things that I don't remember, 10 00:01:19,079 --> 00:01:20,413 I don't choose to remember. 11 00:01:23,416 --> 00:01:24,751 (GIGGLING) 12 00:01:27,379 --> 00:01:29,130 NIKKI: I remember what's important 13 00:01:29,214 --> 00:01:30,757 and I make up the rest. 14 00:01:31,925 --> 00:01:33,384 (GIGGLING) 15 00:01:35,887 --> 00:01:37,430 (NIKKI LAUGHING) 16 00:01:42,185 --> 00:01:44,396 That's what storytelling's all about. 17 00:01:50,527 --> 00:01:53,613 -(METAL RATTLING) -(BOOSTERS ROARING) 18 00:01:56,074 --> 00:02:00,745 (INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER) 19 00:02:02,247 --> 00:02:04,541 -(QUINDAR TONE BEEPING) -FLIGHT CONTROLLER: Stand by. 20 00:02:04,582 --> 00:02:07,419 ♪ (SERENE DREAMY MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪ 21 00:02:22,183 --> 00:02:25,562 (BIRDS CHIRPING) 22 00:02:27,188 --> 00:02:29,774 ♪ (INTENSE DRUMBEAT PLAYS) ♪ 23 00:02:29,816 --> 00:02:32,444 LOU HOUSE: If you're right, then what you're saying... 24 00:02:33,945 --> 00:02:35,238 is you're a forerunner 25 00:02:35,321 --> 00:02:38,283 of what many times happens. So, you're sort of a prophet. 26 00:02:38,366 --> 00:02:40,785 I would hate to think of myself as being a prophet. 27 00:02:40,869 --> 00:02:42,287 (GIGGLES) Prophets die. 28 00:02:42,370 --> 00:02:43,621 They always-- The prophets and saints-- 29 00:02:43,663 --> 00:02:45,040 LOU: But don't we all? (LAUGHING) 30 00:02:45,123 --> 00:02:47,042 Oh, but they do it sooner. 31 00:02:47,125 --> 00:02:48,960 What I'm trying to do with my writing 32 00:02:49,043 --> 00:02:50,920 is to bring out a reality. 33 00:02:50,962 --> 00:02:52,839 I'm what they call a personal poet. 34 00:02:52,922 --> 00:02:55,466 And I try to bring out the personality of my life. 35 00:02:55,550 --> 00:02:58,094 You know? That my family was a good family. 36 00:02:58,136 --> 00:02:59,554 You know, because they're Black people 37 00:02:59,637 --> 00:03:00,847 and Black people are good people. 38 00:03:00,930 --> 00:03:04,559 And from that goodness, we can create the revolution. 39 00:03:04,642 --> 00:03:07,187 So that the revolution isn't a reaction to Whiteness, 40 00:03:07,270 --> 00:03:09,606 but a forward thrust of Blackness. 41 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:15,153 Before we leave, will you do one more time? 42 00:03:15,195 --> 00:03:16,613 Oh, I'd be glad to. 43 00:03:16,654 --> 00:03:19,574 This is "Nikki-Rosa." It's about us. 44 00:03:19,657 --> 00:03:22,410 ♪ (MELLOW PERCUSSION MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 45 00:03:22,494 --> 00:03:26,164 (MUFFLED LIVELY CHATTER) 46 00:03:26,247 --> 00:03:27,582 NIKKI: "Childhood remembrances 47 00:03:27,665 --> 00:03:30,835 are always a drag if you're Black. 48 00:03:32,337 --> 00:03:34,589 And if you become famous or something, 49 00:03:34,673 --> 00:03:36,508 they never talk about how happy you were 50 00:03:36,549 --> 00:03:38,510 to have your mother all to yourself. 51 00:03:38,551 --> 00:03:40,303 And even though you remember, 52 00:03:40,345 --> 00:03:42,389 your biographers never understand 53 00:03:42,472 --> 00:03:44,641 your father's pain as he sells his stock. 54 00:03:44,683 --> 00:03:47,644 And another dream goes. And though you're poor 55 00:03:47,686 --> 00:03:49,938 it isn't poverty that concerns you. 56 00:03:50,021 --> 00:03:51,314 And though they fought a lot 57 00:03:51,356 --> 00:03:53,483 it isn't your father's drinking that makes any difference. 58 00:03:53,525 --> 00:03:55,652 But only that everybody is together. 59 00:03:55,694 --> 00:03:58,196 And you and your sister have happy birthdays 60 00:03:58,279 --> 00:04:00,240 and very good Christmases. 61 00:04:02,534 --> 00:04:05,203 And I really hope no White person ever has cause 62 00:04:05,286 --> 00:04:07,872 to write about me because they never understand 63 00:04:07,914 --> 00:04:09,582 Black love is Black wealth. 64 00:04:09,666 --> 00:04:12,377 And they'll probably talk about my hard childhood 65 00:04:12,460 --> 00:04:14,879 and never understand that all the while 66 00:04:14,921 --> 00:04:16,380 I was quite happy." 67 00:04:17,173 --> 00:04:18,298 LOU: Right on. 68 00:04:18,382 --> 00:04:19,801 (BIRDS CHIRPING) 69 00:04:19,884 --> 00:04:21,720 ♪ (MELLOW PERCUSSION MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪ 70 00:04:21,803 --> 00:04:24,389 (LEAVES RUSTLING) 71 00:04:26,641 --> 00:04:29,853 (WATER BURBLING) 72 00:04:36,067 --> 00:04:38,445 NIKKI: I'm very proud of my okra. 73 00:04:41,614 --> 00:04:43,533 I planted it from seed. 74 00:04:43,575 --> 00:04:45,577 And so there's just something nice about putting seed 75 00:04:45,659 --> 00:04:47,954 in the ground and... this-- It looks good. 76 00:04:49,706 --> 00:04:51,624 See? It's growing. 77 00:04:51,707 --> 00:04:54,919 ♪ (SOFT DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 78 00:05:10,769 --> 00:05:14,898 ♪ (SOFT DREAMY MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪ 79 00:05:14,939 --> 00:05:17,275 NIKKI: I was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, 80 00:05:17,359 --> 00:05:19,527 but I am an earthling. 81 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:23,573 (QUINDAR TONES BEEPING) 82 00:05:23,615 --> 00:05:25,742 NIKKI: I'm a big fan of Black women. 83 00:05:25,784 --> 00:05:29,579 'Cause in our blood is space travel. 84 00:05:29,621 --> 00:05:33,792 ♪ (SOFT DREAMY MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪ 85 00:05:33,875 --> 00:05:37,128 NIKKI: Because we've come from a known, 86 00:05:37,170 --> 00:05:40,799 through an unknown, to an unknown. 87 00:05:42,926 --> 00:05:44,969 And that's all that space travel is. 88 00:05:47,722 --> 00:05:52,310 If anybody can find what there is in this darkness, 89 00:05:52,394 --> 00:05:54,229 it's Black women. 90 00:05:54,312 --> 00:05:57,357 ♪ (DISCORDANT ETHEREAL MUSIC PLAYS) ♪ 91 00:05:58,942 --> 00:06:01,361 ♪ (DISCORDANT ETHEREAL MUSIC FADES) ♪ 92 00:06:02,612 --> 00:06:04,656 -(HORNS HONKING) -(RAPID HUMMING) 93 00:06:04,739 --> 00:06:08,410 -(HUMMING STOPS) -(HORNS CONTINUE HONKING) 94 00:06:08,493 --> 00:06:12,038 ♪ (SOFT JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 95 00:06:15,291 --> 00:06:18,920 (LIVELY CHATTER) 96 00:06:28,805 --> 00:06:30,348 -Thank you so much. -Thank you. 97 00:06:30,390 --> 00:06:33,143 (OVERLAPPING CHATTER) 98 00:06:36,312 --> 00:06:37,897 Thank you so much. 99 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:45,697 (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS, CHEERS) 100 00:06:59,377 --> 00:07:01,880 Here in the Apollo Theater, 101 00:07:01,963 --> 00:07:05,508 -our card-carrying members... -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 102 00:07:05,550 --> 00:07:08,887 ...of the Nikki Giovanni fan club. 103 00:07:08,928 --> 00:07:11,598 -(NIKKI LAUGHING) -(AUDIENCE APPLAUDS, CHEERS) 104 00:07:11,681 --> 00:07:15,602 So, Nikki, say something about 105 00:07:16,478 --> 00:07:19,981 -the role of friends... -(CHUCKLES) 106 00:07:20,065 --> 00:07:23,026 -...in your life. -You know, I'm not friendly. 107 00:07:23,068 --> 00:07:25,111 -And-- (GIGGLES) -JOHNNETTA COLE: That's why 108 00:07:25,195 --> 00:07:26,321 I asked the question. 109 00:07:26,404 --> 00:07:28,907 -I'm not friendly. -You're the last person 110 00:07:28,948 --> 00:07:29,908 you would think. 111 00:07:29,991 --> 00:07:32,534 NIKKI: I'm fortunate, you know, that I'm polite, 112 00:07:32,577 --> 00:07:33,661 but I'm not friendly. 113 00:07:33,745 --> 00:07:36,790 (AUDIENCE LAUGHS, APPLAUDS) 114 00:07:37,582 --> 00:07:39,000 JOHNNETTA: I know, Nikki, 115 00:07:39,084 --> 00:07:44,255 you don't just think of yourself as yourself. 116 00:07:44,339 --> 00:07:49,469 You sure write in a collective sense. 117 00:07:49,552 --> 00:07:52,931 -You write for all of us. -NIKKI: But, Johnnetta... 118 00:07:53,014 --> 00:07:56,768 I honestly think that the most important word to me is duty. 119 00:07:56,810 --> 00:07:58,645 JOHNNETTA: Let's... let's hear it. 120 00:07:58,728 --> 00:08:01,272 NIKKI: I just think there are things you have to do. 121 00:08:01,314 --> 00:08:03,191 When all, for lack of a better word, 122 00:08:03,274 --> 00:08:06,319 the shit hits the fan, you're still gonna stand up 123 00:08:06,403 --> 00:08:08,613 -and do the right thing. -Mm-hmm. 124 00:08:08,655 --> 00:08:09,781 (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) 125 00:08:09,823 --> 00:08:12,075 Our people have. The history of our people 126 00:08:12,117 --> 00:08:13,868 is a great history. 127 00:08:13,952 --> 00:08:16,996 And it's our duty to tell that story. 128 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:19,624 ♪ (DRUMBEATS PLAYING) ♪ 129 00:08:20,625 --> 00:08:22,544 (BIRDS CAWING) 130 00:08:24,170 --> 00:08:26,631 NIKKI: My great grandfather was a slave. 131 00:08:28,758 --> 00:08:30,677 My grandfather attended Fisk University. 132 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:33,013 He wanted to be a Latin scholar, was a Latin scholar, in fact. 133 00:08:33,096 --> 00:08:34,722 It's just that he couldn't find a job, 134 00:08:34,806 --> 00:08:37,225 because nobody was hiring Black men to be Latin scholars 135 00:08:37,308 --> 00:08:38,308 at that particular point, 136 00:08:38,393 --> 00:08:40,102 but he was a dreamer is my point. 137 00:08:40,145 --> 00:08:41,645 And his dream was not realizable 138 00:08:41,688 --> 00:08:43,188 because of a number of situations. 139 00:08:43,273 --> 00:08:45,942 So he became a Latin teacher in a local high school 140 00:08:46,026 --> 00:08:46,943 and he did very well. 141 00:08:46,985 --> 00:08:48,653 He took care of his wife and his three children. 142 00:08:48,695 --> 00:08:50,655 My mother had me. I'm also a dreamer. 143 00:08:50,739 --> 00:08:53,283 But I don't understand why my dreams can't come true. 144 00:08:53,324 --> 00:08:54,492 So, I will continue to do 145 00:08:54,576 --> 00:08:56,661 what my grandfather could not do. I will fight. 146 00:08:56,745 --> 00:08:58,455 -HOST: Mm-hmm. -I'm a fighter. 147 00:08:58,496 --> 00:09:00,540 And my son should not have to fight 148 00:09:00,623 --> 00:09:02,292 the same battles that I fought. 149 00:09:04,252 --> 00:09:06,671 I'm a native Tennessean, I was born there. 150 00:09:06,713 --> 00:09:07,839 (AUDIENCE CHEERING) 151 00:09:07,922 --> 00:09:09,215 NIKKI: During the age of segregation 152 00:09:09,299 --> 00:09:11,092 when you couldn't go to the same amusement park 153 00:09:11,176 --> 00:09:13,261 or the same movie theater, when the White guys 154 00:09:13,345 --> 00:09:15,680 would cruise up and down the street and call out to you, 155 00:09:15,722 --> 00:09:18,016 when the Black guys were afraid of being lynched. 156 00:09:18,058 --> 00:09:19,768 But we went to Church each Sunday 157 00:09:19,851 --> 00:09:21,936 and we sang a precious song, 158 00:09:22,020 --> 00:09:24,022 and we found a way not to survive, 159 00:09:24,105 --> 00:09:25,648 anything can survive, 160 00:09:25,690 --> 00:09:28,777 but to thrive and believe and hope. 161 00:09:28,860 --> 00:09:30,987 I'm a native Tennessean, I was born there, 162 00:09:31,029 --> 00:09:33,031 but I was only two months old when my mother and father 163 00:09:33,073 --> 00:09:34,866 moved my sister and me to Cincinnati, 164 00:09:34,908 --> 00:09:36,534 where neighborhoods were redlined, 165 00:09:36,576 --> 00:09:38,286 but at least Mommy could get a job teaching 166 00:09:38,370 --> 00:09:40,872 and Daddy could get a job behind a desk. And after all, 167 00:09:40,955 --> 00:09:43,875 if you are a college graduate, that's the least you can expect. 168 00:09:43,958 --> 00:09:46,711 -(TRAIN CHUGGING) -♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 169 00:09:47,295 --> 00:09:48,380 (DOG BARKING) 170 00:09:49,631 --> 00:09:51,841 NIKKI: My father got a scholarship 171 00:09:51,883 --> 00:09:55,095 to Knoxville College where my mother lived. 172 00:09:55,178 --> 00:09:56,137 They fell in love. 173 00:09:56,221 --> 00:09:58,848 The yearbook had a picture of my mother. 174 00:09:58,890 --> 00:10:01,226 And it says, "When you see her, you surely must 175 00:10:01,309 --> 00:10:03,395 at the same time think of Gus." 176 00:10:03,478 --> 00:10:07,941 ♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪ 177 00:10:08,024 --> 00:10:09,818 NIKKI: It was a stormy relationship 178 00:10:09,901 --> 00:10:13,905 at various points, but we know that deprivation 179 00:10:14,864 --> 00:10:17,283 gives us stormy relationships. 180 00:10:23,790 --> 00:10:25,667 ♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC FADES) ♪ 181 00:10:25,750 --> 00:10:27,669 NIKKI: So, what are we looking for? 182 00:10:27,752 --> 00:10:29,754 DRIVER: We're trying to get to Jackson Street. 183 00:10:29,796 --> 00:10:31,297 NIKKI: We're trying to get to... (LAUGHS) 184 00:10:31,381 --> 00:10:33,675 -Lincoln Heights? Okay. -DRIVER: Lincoln Heights. 185 00:10:33,758 --> 00:10:35,635 This is Pendry. Go down Pendry. 186 00:10:35,719 --> 00:10:37,429 -DRIVER: Left or right? -NIKKI: Left. 187 00:10:37,470 --> 00:10:40,765 (CRICKETS CHIRPING) 188 00:10:40,849 --> 00:10:42,559 NIKKI: I shared a bedroom with my sister, 189 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:47,272 and my bed was by the window. 190 00:10:47,313 --> 00:10:50,775 When you start to look at things that have been 191 00:10:51,276 --> 00:10:52,277 changed so much, 192 00:10:52,318 --> 00:10:54,654 I mean, it's very hard-- I couldn't begin as I say. 193 00:10:54,738 --> 00:10:58,950 If this is what it appears to me, this is asphalt. 194 00:10:58,992 --> 00:11:01,536 And so, it's a piece of asphalt. 195 00:11:01,619 --> 00:11:03,288 If that's the case, the house was there. 196 00:11:03,329 --> 00:11:04,622 'Cause it wasn't a big house. 197 00:11:04,664 --> 00:11:07,292 ♪ (DISCORDANT ETHEREAL MUSIC PLAYS) ♪ 198 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:11,087 When you have parents who... 199 00:11:11,129 --> 00:11:15,633 have difficulties as a kid, what you have to do is, uh... 200 00:11:15,717 --> 00:11:17,260 you have to have an imagination, 201 00:11:17,302 --> 00:11:20,221 and you have to step out of their relationship 202 00:11:20,972 --> 00:11:23,141 and figure out what you want. 203 00:11:23,183 --> 00:11:25,894 -(DOGS BARKING) -♪ (DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 204 00:11:27,020 --> 00:11:29,147 NIKKI: I know crying is a skill. 205 00:11:30,482 --> 00:11:32,150 I automatically wipe my eyes 206 00:11:32,192 --> 00:11:34,819 even though I know crying is a skill. 207 00:11:37,113 --> 00:11:38,990 Maybe I will learn. My mother did 208 00:11:39,032 --> 00:11:42,619 when she thought I was asleep. I think my sister did sleep, 209 00:11:42,660 --> 00:11:46,164 but sleeping is difficult to me as crying. 210 00:11:46,206 --> 00:11:50,335 I laugh easily and I smile, and withhold any true feelings. 211 00:11:50,377 --> 00:11:52,796 ♪ (DREAMY MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪ 212 00:12:00,345 --> 00:12:02,972 ♪ (DREAMY MUSIC FADES) ♪ 213 00:12:04,182 --> 00:12:05,308 CREW MEMBER: Your book is wonderful. 214 00:12:05,350 --> 00:12:07,644 Oh, thank you. You want me to sit closer? 215 00:12:07,686 --> 00:12:09,062 -Okay. Yeah. -(INDISTINCT TV CHATTER) 216 00:12:09,145 --> 00:12:10,772 You're comfortable the way you're sitting? 217 00:12:10,855 --> 00:12:13,191 HOST: I'm just gonna label these for you. 218 00:12:13,274 --> 00:12:15,610 NIKKI: "Maybe I should be happy I found 219 00:12:15,694 --> 00:12:18,279 my mother in someone else who loves me." 220 00:12:18,321 --> 00:12:19,906 "What else really matters?" 221 00:12:19,989 --> 00:12:21,866 That's our guest Nikki Giovanni 222 00:12:21,908 --> 00:12:24,536 reading from her poem "I Married My Mother." 223 00:12:24,619 --> 00:12:25,662 Where to begin? 224 00:12:25,704 --> 00:12:27,914 Well, let's begin with the crying part. 225 00:12:27,997 --> 00:12:29,207 You're not a crier? 226 00:12:29,249 --> 00:12:31,543 You're smiling at me as I ask you this question. 227 00:12:31,584 --> 00:12:33,837 I grew up because my father-- 228 00:12:33,878 --> 00:12:36,464 And I'm trying to understand more, 229 00:12:36,548 --> 00:12:37,882 but my father was cruel. 230 00:12:37,924 --> 00:12:40,552 And it seemed like my mother needed, 231 00:12:40,635 --> 00:12:42,429 I don't know, protection or something. 232 00:12:43,430 --> 00:12:45,348 "Who was there? Who looked? 233 00:12:45,390 --> 00:12:47,726 Where was the camera that Saturday night? 234 00:12:47,767 --> 00:12:49,769 My father hit my mother so hard 235 00:12:49,853 --> 00:12:51,938 she literally flew across the living room 236 00:12:52,022 --> 00:12:53,732 and fell against the windowpane 237 00:12:53,815 --> 00:12:55,025 like a rag doll. 238 00:12:55,066 --> 00:12:57,569 I watched. I watched over Mommy. 239 00:12:57,652 --> 00:12:59,487 I hear her say, 'Please don't hit me,' 240 00:12:59,571 --> 00:13:00,613 but he does. 241 00:13:00,697 --> 00:13:01,906 She says to me, 242 00:13:01,948 --> 00:13:04,951 'What goes on in our house, stays in our house.' 243 00:13:05,035 --> 00:13:06,745 Who saw what I heard? 244 00:13:06,786 --> 00:13:08,747 Who knows how to make sense of it? 245 00:13:08,830 --> 00:13:10,915 And we want to save the world? 246 00:13:10,957 --> 00:13:13,918 What about my mother? I am a witness. 247 00:13:14,002 --> 00:13:17,756 I don't need an overseas enemy. I have my father. 248 00:13:17,839 --> 00:13:19,799 And the band played on." 249 00:13:19,883 --> 00:13:21,009 Did you see him as the enemy? 250 00:13:21,092 --> 00:13:23,219 I went to live with Grandmother shortly after... 251 00:13:23,261 --> 00:13:25,263 after that, because it was... (CHUCKLES) 252 00:13:25,305 --> 00:13:27,098 ...well, I shouldn't say this on the radio, I guess, 253 00:13:27,140 --> 00:13:30,685 but it was clear that either I was going to kill him 254 00:13:30,769 --> 00:13:32,687 or I had to move, and so... 255 00:13:32,771 --> 00:13:34,939 I decided to move. But the funny thing was, 256 00:13:34,981 --> 00:13:36,941 you know, Grandmother and I never discussed it, 257 00:13:36,983 --> 00:13:39,277 but I know that Grandmother knew 258 00:13:39,319 --> 00:13:41,988 that her daughter was in trouble. I know that. 259 00:13:42,072 --> 00:13:44,824 ♪ (DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 260 00:13:47,035 --> 00:13:49,037 NIKKI: I don't understand how on one hand 261 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:51,623 you say you're talking about, like, a Black man. 262 00:13:51,664 --> 00:13:54,125 That he can be nothing in the streets 263 00:13:54,167 --> 00:13:56,920 and so fearful in his home. 264 00:13:56,961 --> 00:14:00,965 That he can be brutalized by some White person somewhere, 265 00:14:01,049 --> 00:14:02,634 and then come home and treat-- 266 00:14:02,676 --> 00:14:04,135 You know, I mean, me, my mother... 267 00:14:04,219 --> 00:14:05,804 -JAMES BALDWIN: It's got to... -...the same way 268 00:14:05,887 --> 00:14:07,472 that he was being treated. 269 00:14:07,555 --> 00:14:09,474 Which perpetuates-- I mean, you take somebody like me 270 00:14:09,516 --> 00:14:11,101 -I'm not married, right? -BALDWIN: Yes, but Nikki... 271 00:14:11,142 --> 00:14:12,310 NIKKI: I couldn't play my mother. 272 00:14:12,394 --> 00:14:13,937 -BALDWIN: Yes, I know. -You know what I mean? 273 00:14:13,978 --> 00:14:15,355 I just couldn't deal with it. I said no. 274 00:14:15,438 --> 00:14:17,357 But, Nikki, it's also true that since your mother 275 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:19,859 played that role, you haven't got to. 276 00:14:19,943 --> 00:14:23,154 You say mistreated, or I say mistreated, no. 277 00:14:23,196 --> 00:14:25,990 But in the per-- In the mind of the person who is doing it, 278 00:14:26,074 --> 00:14:27,867 he's not mistreating you. 279 00:14:27,951 --> 00:14:29,327 NIKKI: No, I'm not dealing with that. 280 00:14:29,411 --> 00:14:31,788 Let's say, in the mind of, let's say, your father, 281 00:14:31,871 --> 00:14:33,915 who is just an example, or the mind of my father. 282 00:14:33,998 --> 00:14:36,251 You know what I mean? He is being mistreated. 283 00:14:36,334 --> 00:14:37,419 I'm not gonna deal with the cracker 284 00:14:37,502 --> 00:14:39,713 that's mistreating him. I'm gonna deal with him. 285 00:14:39,796 --> 00:14:41,339 He knows that he is not being treated 286 00:14:41,381 --> 00:14:44,843 with the respect due him as a person, as a Black man. 287 00:14:44,884 --> 00:14:47,220 Okay? In order to, like, get that together 288 00:14:47,303 --> 00:14:48,638 when he comes into that house, 289 00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:51,975 he begins to, like, brutalize my mother, for example. 290 00:14:52,017 --> 00:14:53,018 You see what I mean? 291 00:14:53,059 --> 00:14:55,020 Which becomes like a phenomenon to me, 292 00:14:55,061 --> 00:14:56,688 because I don't like White people 293 00:14:56,730 --> 00:14:58,314 and I'm afraid of Black men, right? 294 00:14:58,356 --> 00:14:59,649 If you can follow what I'm saying, 295 00:14:59,691 --> 00:15:01,359 without anybody writing a letter and saying "Sister," 296 00:15:01,443 --> 00:15:03,528 you know what I mean? Okay, so what do you do? 297 00:15:03,570 --> 00:15:05,405 BALDWIN: Listen, you have to, I think what you have-- 298 00:15:05,488 --> 00:15:06,364 It's a cycle. 299 00:15:06,406 --> 00:15:09,492 And that's unfortunate because I need love. 300 00:15:10,827 --> 00:15:13,955 (BIRDS CHIRPING) 301 00:15:19,169 --> 00:15:21,046 NIKKI: The one thing that I did know 302 00:15:21,129 --> 00:15:24,716 is whatever life would be, I knew I had to create myself. 303 00:15:24,799 --> 00:15:26,384 So, I wrote a poem, "Nikki-Rosa." 304 00:15:26,426 --> 00:15:28,678 Childhood remembrances are always a drag, 305 00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:31,556 but I also knew it could not determine who I was. 306 00:15:31,598 --> 00:15:32,724 So I'm gonna write a line 307 00:15:32,766 --> 00:15:34,225 that says, "And though we were poor, 308 00:15:34,267 --> 00:15:36,519 it's not poverty that concerned me." 309 00:15:36,561 --> 00:15:40,106 INTERVIEWER: What did it feel like to wake up at 11? 310 00:15:40,190 --> 00:15:42,567 Well, you want something that I'm obviously, 311 00:15:42,609 --> 00:15:44,652 clearly not ever gonna give you 312 00:15:44,736 --> 00:15:48,865 or anybody else, so you can find another question. 313 00:15:48,907 --> 00:15:51,451 (LAUGHS) I don't know how else to say that. 314 00:15:51,534 --> 00:15:52,744 But I was not asleep. 315 00:15:52,786 --> 00:15:55,872 And I knew that it was Saturday, so I knew what to expect. 316 00:15:55,914 --> 00:15:57,457 But... 317 00:15:57,540 --> 00:15:58,833 You're wanting me to go 318 00:15:58,917 --> 00:16:00,585 to someplace that I'm not gonna go 319 00:16:00,627 --> 00:16:01,920 because it'll make me unhappy. 320 00:16:01,961 --> 00:16:03,672 And I refuse to be unhappy about something 321 00:16:03,755 --> 00:16:05,131 I can do nothing about. 322 00:16:07,425 --> 00:16:09,678 ♪ (PENSIVE DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 323 00:16:09,761 --> 00:16:11,179 NIKKI: So, I selected happiness 324 00:16:11,262 --> 00:16:14,265 and I put that which was unhappy away. 325 00:16:15,517 --> 00:16:17,268 I chose not to grieve. 326 00:16:17,769 --> 00:16:21,189 (STATIC HISSING) 327 00:16:24,526 --> 00:16:27,737 NARRATOR: (AS NIKKI) "I brush my teeth, I smile, 328 00:16:27,779 --> 00:16:30,115 but there is always this frown. 329 00:16:32,534 --> 00:16:35,620 I think I'll run away with the ants 330 00:16:36,705 --> 00:16:38,498 and live on Mars." 331 00:16:45,588 --> 00:16:47,424 (VEHICLES HONKING) 332 00:16:50,260 --> 00:16:51,636 ♪ (PENSIVE DREAMY MUSIC FADES) ♪ 333 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:53,847 NIKKI: That thing is com-- Christmas is coming. 334 00:16:53,930 --> 00:16:55,265 And I like Christmas okay, 335 00:16:55,306 --> 00:16:58,476 but I really hate Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. 336 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:00,437 (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 337 00:17:01,312 --> 00:17:02,355 Don't you? 338 00:17:04,148 --> 00:17:06,317 And it's like, "Whoa, what is wrong with you?" 339 00:17:06,401 --> 00:17:11,156 And all of the other reindeers would laugh and call him names. 340 00:17:11,196 --> 00:17:12,615 What the hell is that? 341 00:17:12,656 --> 00:17:14,451 -And-- -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 342 00:17:14,492 --> 00:17:16,161 NIKKI: No. 343 00:17:16,243 --> 00:17:19,998 I wanna know where was Mr. Santa Claus 344 00:17:20,080 --> 00:17:21,124 and Mrs. Santa Claus? 345 00:17:21,165 --> 00:17:23,126 They saw what was going on with Rudolph. 346 00:17:23,167 --> 00:17:26,003 Why didn't some of them come out and get that corrected? 347 00:17:26,087 --> 00:17:29,257 But the minute they needed something, right? 348 00:17:29,341 --> 00:17:32,802 One foggy Christmas Eve, then Santa's there, you know, 349 00:17:32,844 --> 00:17:34,304 "Hey, Rudolph, we need you." 350 00:17:34,346 --> 00:17:36,264 Rudolph should have told him to kiss-- 351 00:17:36,348 --> 00:17:40,060 -Rudolph-- -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING, WHOOPING) 352 00:17:40,143 --> 00:17:43,355 (SNIFFLES) He should have. (LAUGHS) 353 00:17:47,817 --> 00:17:52,238 Some of us in this room are in some ways different. 354 00:17:52,322 --> 00:17:55,367 And I just wanted to say, you know, remember Rudolph 355 00:17:55,408 --> 00:17:57,702 and that Rudolph should have cursed him out, 356 00:17:57,786 --> 00:18:00,038 because you don't have any reason to be sucking up 357 00:18:00,121 --> 00:18:01,623 under them dumbass reindeer 358 00:18:01,706 --> 00:18:04,376 -who are talking about you. -(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) 359 00:18:04,417 --> 00:18:07,671 NIKKI: Because anybody that has any talent in this room 360 00:18:07,712 --> 00:18:08,755 is lonely. 361 00:18:08,838 --> 00:18:10,048 Whether you can sing, 362 00:18:10,090 --> 00:18:11,925 whether you can shoot a basketball, 363 00:18:12,008 --> 00:18:13,176 whether you can play foo-- 364 00:18:13,218 --> 00:18:14,636 I don't care what it is you can-- 365 00:18:14,719 --> 00:18:16,388 If you've got a talent... 366 00:18:17,222 --> 00:18:18,306 you're lonely. 367 00:18:18,390 --> 00:18:23,436 And so what you wanna do is go on with your life. 368 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:27,023 Because at some point you're gonna find somebody 369 00:18:27,065 --> 00:18:29,901 who is lonely as you are. 370 00:18:29,984 --> 00:18:32,445 And then you will build your community. 371 00:18:32,529 --> 00:18:35,949 (AUDIENCE CHEERING, APPLAUDING) 372 00:18:36,032 --> 00:18:38,201 HOST: So just come on up and take a mic. 373 00:18:40,912 --> 00:18:43,039 SPECTATOR 1: Would you ever say that some of your poems 374 00:18:43,081 --> 00:18:46,042 were inspired by stress or hate? 375 00:18:46,084 --> 00:18:47,460 SPECTATOR 2: Were you ever bullied 376 00:18:47,544 --> 00:18:49,587 by your skin color when you were younger? 377 00:18:49,671 --> 00:18:51,423 SPECTATOR 3: What would you say your life was like 378 00:18:51,464 --> 00:18:53,508 whenever you just felt depressed? 379 00:18:54,426 --> 00:18:56,136 SPECTATOR 4: If you could describe yourself 380 00:18:56,219 --> 00:18:58,221 in three words, what would it be? 381 00:19:00,724 --> 00:19:02,267 (LAUGHS) I'm okay. 382 00:19:02,308 --> 00:19:05,270 -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) -(CHUCKLES) 383 00:19:05,311 --> 00:19:07,439 NIKKI: I like myself, you know, I mean... 384 00:19:08,356 --> 00:19:09,774 I'm very fortunate 385 00:19:09,858 --> 00:19:13,653 that I just don't care what people think about me. 386 00:19:13,737 --> 00:19:17,240 And I'm just incredibly fortunate about that. 387 00:19:17,282 --> 00:19:20,535 (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) 388 00:19:20,618 --> 00:19:22,787 SPECTATOR 5: Have you ever had like a breakdown, 389 00:19:22,829 --> 00:19:26,041 or you couldn't take it anymore, where you just can't do it? 390 00:19:26,124 --> 00:19:29,461 Have you ever had a breakdown? Where you just couldn't take it? 391 00:19:31,546 --> 00:19:35,258 -♪ (DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -(CLOCK TICKING) 392 00:19:43,141 --> 00:19:44,601 NIKKI: You gotta love people that said, 393 00:19:44,642 --> 00:19:48,355 "I don't care what it is, I'm gonna find a way to smile." 394 00:19:52,067 --> 00:19:53,610 And I know that there are people that try 395 00:19:53,651 --> 00:19:56,071 to laugh at those Negros, that try to laugh-- 396 00:19:56,112 --> 00:19:57,697 "Oh, they didn't know what they were doing." 397 00:19:57,781 --> 00:19:59,824 They knew that they had to stay sane 398 00:19:59,866 --> 00:20:01,326 and that they had to love. 399 00:20:01,368 --> 00:20:03,286 I think Black people are wonderful. 400 00:20:03,328 --> 00:20:05,288 They're great people. 401 00:20:05,330 --> 00:20:07,916 And I think it's time that we recognize that. 402 00:20:12,212 --> 00:20:14,673 That's the way I look at the history. 403 00:20:14,756 --> 00:20:17,676 (SNIFFLES) But I'm just a poet, nobody listened to me. 404 00:20:19,636 --> 00:20:20,679 That's the truth. 405 00:20:21,888 --> 00:20:24,349 But that's why the new book is called A Good Cry, 406 00:20:24,391 --> 00:20:27,352 because I'm learning to let it go. I don't... 407 00:20:27,394 --> 00:20:29,521 I don't have to be strong or brave. 408 00:20:30,063 --> 00:20:31,815 I don't have to... 409 00:20:31,856 --> 00:20:34,192 I don't have to do anything for anybody. 410 00:20:34,234 --> 00:20:36,653 I educated my son, I paid for my house, 411 00:20:36,695 --> 00:20:37,612 my car is paid for. 412 00:20:37,696 --> 00:20:39,614 I can live my life as I fucking well please. 413 00:20:39,698 --> 00:20:42,450 So if I wanna cry, I can do that too. (SNIFFLES) 414 00:21:04,597 --> 00:21:06,016 VIRGINIA "GINNEY" FOWLER: All right. 415 00:21:06,057 --> 00:21:07,642 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 416 00:21:08,393 --> 00:21:11,479 -(SMOOCHES) -(CLEO BARKING) 417 00:21:11,563 --> 00:21:13,106 -Shame on you. -(LAUGHS) 418 00:21:13,189 --> 00:21:14,941 -GINNEY: Jealous dog. -NIKKI: Tell Zena. 419 00:21:15,025 --> 00:21:16,860 I will. Stay! 420 00:21:16,901 --> 00:21:18,236 -NIKKI: Cleo. -Stay. 421 00:21:18,319 --> 00:21:20,739 -NIKKI: Cleo... -(CLEO WHIMPERING) 422 00:21:23,408 --> 00:21:25,827 (DIAL TONE RINGING) 423 00:21:26,911 --> 00:21:28,329 NIKKI: (QUIETLY) Get over here. 424 00:21:29,289 --> 00:21:31,541 (DIAL TONE RINGING) 425 00:21:33,543 --> 00:21:34,836 TOM: (OVER PHONE) Hey, Nikki. How are you doing? 426 00:21:34,919 --> 00:21:38,298 NIKKI: (CHUCKLING) I'm fine, Tom. How are you? 427 00:21:38,381 --> 00:21:40,925 TOM: I'm great. It's great to hear your voice. 428 00:21:41,009 --> 00:21:43,303 Well, I was calling because I've been doing 429 00:21:43,386 --> 00:21:44,637 some research on "Encore." 430 00:21:44,721 --> 00:21:47,015 Because I'm thinking about possibly doing something 431 00:21:47,098 --> 00:21:48,058 about the magazine... 432 00:21:48,099 --> 00:21:49,434 -NIKKI: Oh. -TOM: ...and its impact, 433 00:21:49,517 --> 00:21:51,436 but I'm trying to speak to all the contributors also. 434 00:21:51,519 --> 00:21:54,773 Right now, Tom, and I'm not-- I hate to say this, 435 00:21:54,814 --> 00:21:56,775 because it always sounds like I don't care. 436 00:21:56,816 --> 00:22:00,945 But I've had a seizure and I know who I am. 437 00:22:01,029 --> 00:22:03,239 Though they gave me a bracelet and I wear it, 438 00:22:03,323 --> 00:22:05,700 and it says who Nikki is, just in case I get lost. 439 00:22:05,784 --> 00:22:08,370 But a lot of things I don't remember. 440 00:22:08,453 --> 00:22:09,704 I remember the magazine 441 00:22:09,788 --> 00:22:12,457 and it was wonderful, and I think it was good. 442 00:22:12,540 --> 00:22:14,668 -So I don't know... -TOM: Okay. Okay. 443 00:22:15,585 --> 00:22:17,754 ...that I'm gonna be all that helpful. 444 00:22:18,797 --> 00:22:20,298 TOM: Oh, I think you would be great. 445 00:22:20,382 --> 00:22:22,759 I mean as much as you can contribute with, uh, 446 00:22:22,801 --> 00:22:24,719 -would mean a great deal to me. -Well... 447 00:22:24,803 --> 00:22:27,138 TOM: But I understand your health situation. 448 00:22:27,222 --> 00:22:28,640 -So I really do understand that. -Well... 449 00:22:28,723 --> 00:22:30,850 TOM: I don't want you to think I'm being insensitive... 450 00:22:30,934 --> 00:22:31,893 No, no, no. 451 00:22:31,935 --> 00:22:32,811 TOM: ...and not understand. 452 00:22:32,894 --> 00:22:35,355 And if there's anything I can help you with, 453 00:22:35,438 --> 00:22:37,982 you know, don't hesitate to let me know. 454 00:22:38,066 --> 00:22:39,859 TOM: Thank you so much for giving me a call back. 455 00:22:39,943 --> 00:22:43,446 Well, you take care and tell all your folks I said hello. 456 00:22:43,488 --> 00:22:45,782 -TOM: I will. Take care. Bye. -Okey-doke, bye-bye. 457 00:22:45,824 --> 00:22:48,952 ♪ (PENSIVE DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 458 00:22:53,331 --> 00:22:55,291 NIKKI: A seizure is a seizure. 459 00:22:55,333 --> 00:22:57,293 I'm only gonna come back so much. 460 00:22:57,335 --> 00:22:59,045 (STATIC HISSING) 461 00:22:59,129 --> 00:23:02,257 NIKKI: You have to recognize... Well, there's a limit 462 00:23:02,340 --> 00:23:03,675 to what you can do. 463 00:23:10,849 --> 00:23:12,767 NARRATOR: (AS NIKKI) "This is what I think. 464 00:23:12,851 --> 00:23:15,395 I have been blessed with a poor memory." 465 00:23:15,478 --> 00:23:16,855 (TAPE REWINDING) 466 00:23:16,896 --> 00:23:19,691 NARRATOR: "I have forgotten crazy night sweats. 467 00:23:19,733 --> 00:23:21,693 I have forgotten crying. 468 00:23:23,028 --> 00:23:24,696 I don't remember my anger 469 00:23:24,779 --> 00:23:27,615 at witnessing the face of Emmett Till..." 470 00:23:27,699 --> 00:23:31,619 -(GARBLED CHATTER) -NARRATOR: "...nor my fear 471 00:23:31,703 --> 00:23:34,664 when four little girls were murdered one Sunday." 472 00:23:56,061 --> 00:23:59,689 (LOUD RUMBLING) 473 00:24:06,321 --> 00:24:09,824 ♪ (EERIE DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 474 00:24:15,455 --> 00:24:18,083 (GURNEY RATTLING) 475 00:24:21,419 --> 00:24:24,589 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 476 00:24:31,054 --> 00:24:33,223 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: What murdered these... 477 00:24:34,849 --> 00:24:36,059 four girls? 478 00:24:37,602 --> 00:24:38,937 Look around. 479 00:24:40,855 --> 00:24:45,652 You will see that many people that you never thought about 480 00:24:46,319 --> 00:24:47,696 participated... 481 00:24:49,155 --> 00:24:50,657 in this evil act. 482 00:24:51,783 --> 00:24:55,954 ♪ (PENSIVE PIANO MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 483 00:24:56,913 --> 00:24:58,790 (TRAIN RUMBLING) 484 00:24:58,873 --> 00:25:00,750 NIKKI: Modern Civil Rights Movement 485 00:25:00,792 --> 00:25:02,627 was started by the murder 486 00:25:02,669 --> 00:25:05,005 of a young man named Emmett Till. 487 00:25:08,216 --> 00:25:09,134 Ten weeks after 488 00:25:09,217 --> 00:25:11,302 Emmett Till's body in August was discovered 489 00:25:11,344 --> 00:25:13,138 Rosa Parks said, "No." 490 00:25:13,221 --> 00:25:15,515 And I wrote a poem for her. 491 00:25:16,683 --> 00:25:18,101 (TRAIN HORN BLOWING) 492 00:25:18,143 --> 00:25:20,145 NIKKI: And I wanted to find a way to start it 493 00:25:20,186 --> 00:25:21,396 the way I thought it started. 494 00:25:21,479 --> 00:25:23,023 So actually in dealing with Mrs. Parks, 495 00:25:23,106 --> 00:25:25,316 I started, of course, with the Pullman porters. 496 00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:28,361 Because America would be an extremely different place 497 00:25:28,445 --> 00:25:29,654 without the Pullman porters. 498 00:25:29,696 --> 00:25:31,156 (CUTLERY CLINKING) 499 00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:33,825 NIKKI: "This is for the Pullman porters who helped 500 00:25:33,867 --> 00:25:36,077 Thurgood Marshall go South and come back North 501 00:25:36,161 --> 00:25:37,495 to fight the fight that resulted in 502 00:25:37,579 --> 00:25:40,206 Brown v. Board of Education. 503 00:25:40,290 --> 00:25:42,667 This is for the Pullman porters who smiled as if they were happy 504 00:25:42,751 --> 00:25:44,169 and laughed like they were tickled 505 00:25:44,210 --> 00:25:45,545 when some folks were around. 506 00:25:47,130 --> 00:25:49,174 This is for the Pullman porters who smiled and welcomed 507 00:25:49,257 --> 00:25:52,594 a 14-year-old boy onto their train in 1955. 508 00:25:52,635 --> 00:25:54,971 They noticed his slight limp that he tried to disguise 509 00:25:55,055 --> 00:25:56,097 with a doo-wop walk. 510 00:25:56,181 --> 00:25:58,808 They noticed his stutter and probably understood 511 00:25:58,850 --> 00:26:00,185 why his mother wanted him out of Chicago 512 00:26:00,226 --> 00:26:02,187 during the summer when school was out. 513 00:26:02,270 --> 00:26:04,606 Fourteen-year-old Black boys with limps and stutters 514 00:26:04,647 --> 00:26:06,983 are apt to try to prove themselves in dangerous ways 515 00:26:07,025 --> 00:26:08,985 when mothers aren't around to look after them. 516 00:26:09,027 --> 00:26:10,612 So this is for the Pullman porters 517 00:26:10,695 --> 00:26:12,238 who looked over that 14-year-old 518 00:26:12,322 --> 00:26:14,908 while the train rolled the reverse of Blues Highway. 519 00:26:14,991 --> 00:26:17,869 From Chicago to St. Louis, to Memphis, to Mississippi. 520 00:26:17,911 --> 00:26:20,163 This is for the men who kept him safe. 521 00:26:21,539 --> 00:26:24,709 And if Emmett Till had been able to stay on that train all summer 522 00:26:24,751 --> 00:26:26,670 he would have maybe grown a bit of a paunch, 523 00:26:26,711 --> 00:26:29,756 certainly lost his hair, probably have worn bifocals, 524 00:26:29,839 --> 00:26:31,966 and bounced his grandchildren on his knee. 525 00:26:32,050 --> 00:26:34,386 Telling them about his summer riding the rails. 526 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:37,597 But he had to get off that train. 527 00:26:37,681 --> 00:26:39,849 And ended up in Money, Mississippi. 528 00:26:40,767 --> 00:26:43,770 And was horribly, brutally, inexcusably, 529 00:26:43,853 --> 00:26:45,689 and unacceptably murdered." 530 00:26:46,981 --> 00:26:50,068 (WAVES LAPPING) 531 00:26:53,154 --> 00:26:54,823 NIKKI: "This is for the Pullman porters who, 532 00:26:54,906 --> 00:26:57,575 when the sheriff was trying to get that body secretly buried, 533 00:26:57,617 --> 00:26:59,661 got Emmet's body on the northbound train. 534 00:26:59,744 --> 00:27:01,579 Got his body home to Chicago 535 00:27:01,663 --> 00:27:04,457 where his mother said, 'I want the world to see 536 00:27:04,541 --> 00:27:06,793 what they did to my boy.' 537 00:27:08,795 --> 00:27:11,923 And this is for all the mothers who cried. 538 00:27:11,965 --> 00:27:16,261 And this is for all the people who said, 'Never again.' 539 00:27:16,344 --> 00:27:20,682 And it was Mrs. Rosa Parks who could not stand that death. 540 00:27:20,765 --> 00:27:23,101 And in not being able to stand it, 541 00:27:23,184 --> 00:27:25,687 she sat back down." 542 00:27:25,770 --> 00:27:29,065 ♪ ("THE WOMEN GATHER" BY NIKKI GIOVANNI PLAYING) ♪ 543 00:27:36,948 --> 00:27:38,533 NIKKI: "The women gather 544 00:27:38,575 --> 00:27:41,411 because it is not unusual to seek comfort 545 00:27:41,453 --> 00:27:43,371 in our hours of stress. 546 00:27:43,455 --> 00:27:47,459 It is not unusual that the old bury the young. 547 00:27:47,500 --> 00:27:49,836 Though it is an abomination. 548 00:27:49,919 --> 00:27:52,172 It is not strange that the unwise 549 00:27:52,255 --> 00:27:55,675 and the ungentle carry the banner of humaneness 550 00:27:55,759 --> 00:27:58,636 though it is a castration of the spirit. 551 00:27:58,678 --> 00:28:01,348 The women gathered with cloth and ointments, 552 00:28:01,431 --> 00:28:04,726 their busy hands bowing to laws that decree. 553 00:28:04,809 --> 00:28:07,687 Willows shall stand swaying but unbroken 554 00:28:07,771 --> 00:28:10,815 against even the determined wind of death." 555 00:28:16,946 --> 00:28:19,324 ♪ (SONG CONCLUDES) ♪ 556 00:28:21,409 --> 00:28:24,162 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 557 00:28:30,502 --> 00:28:32,754 My pretty girl... 558 00:28:32,837 --> 00:28:35,840 -Hey! (LAUGHS) -(NIKKI LAUGHING) 559 00:28:35,924 --> 00:28:37,634 I like that. So, how are you? 560 00:28:37,676 --> 00:28:38,927 -Doing good. How are you? -Good. (LAUGHS) 561 00:28:39,010 --> 00:28:40,762 -I'm hanging in there. -How's Ginney doing? 562 00:28:40,845 --> 00:28:44,641 NIKKI: She's doing pretty good. She's not with me, um... 563 00:28:44,683 --> 00:28:46,810 Actually, Ginney's not the problem right now 564 00:28:46,851 --> 00:28:48,228 I'm pretty much the problem right now. 565 00:28:48,311 --> 00:28:50,647 So, we're not, you know, doing a big deal with it, 566 00:28:50,689 --> 00:28:53,566 but I'm having surgery on the 21st. 567 00:28:53,650 --> 00:28:55,193 -What's happening? -Oh... 568 00:28:55,235 --> 00:28:57,278 -Do you wanna not talk about it? -No, I mean, it's not a big-- 569 00:28:57,362 --> 00:28:59,447 I'm not gonna announce it, but you know, uh... 570 00:28:59,531 --> 00:29:02,158 Uh, it probably is a cancer, 571 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:05,161 but it's a-- You know, like, what do you call it? 572 00:29:05,203 --> 00:29:08,456 A breast-- You know, a thing in the breast. 573 00:29:08,540 --> 00:29:10,000 So, she's just gonna take it out. 574 00:29:10,041 --> 00:29:11,876 -Why take a chance? -Why take a chance. 575 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:14,796 NIKKI: Yeah, and having had lung cancer, 576 00:29:14,879 --> 00:29:16,548 you know, they took the left lung out. 577 00:29:16,631 --> 00:29:18,508 So, you don't wanna, you know... 578 00:29:18,550 --> 00:29:19,884 Dr. Abrams's like, 579 00:29:19,968 --> 00:29:22,554 "Oh, you know, you'll be able to go home the same night." 580 00:29:22,595 --> 00:29:24,973 I said, "Sweetie, this is my tit. 581 00:29:25,056 --> 00:29:27,434 If it was your tit, maybe you go home the same night. 582 00:29:27,517 --> 00:29:29,185 My tit, I'm going to stay." 583 00:29:30,979 --> 00:29:32,439 I see my granddaughter. 584 00:29:34,566 --> 00:29:35,525 Hey! 585 00:29:35,567 --> 00:29:37,819 -Hey. Well, looky here. Ah! -Hey. 586 00:29:37,902 --> 00:29:39,529 (NIKKI LAUGHING) 587 00:29:39,571 --> 00:29:41,156 -How are you? -Good. 588 00:29:41,239 --> 00:29:43,366 Good. How did she get to be this tall? 589 00:29:43,408 --> 00:29:44,951 THOMAS GIOVANNI: She's almost your height. 590 00:29:45,035 --> 00:29:47,412 NIKKI: When are we gonna get those folks to let you come down 591 00:29:47,454 --> 00:29:50,957 so you can learn how to play bid whist and fry some chicken? 592 00:29:51,041 --> 00:29:52,751 I haven't seen you since 593 00:29:52,834 --> 00:29:54,336 -Las Vegas. -KAI GIOVANNI: Yeah. 594 00:29:54,419 --> 00:29:56,921 THOMAS: No. We saw... One time when we had dinner. 595 00:29:57,005 --> 00:29:59,591 Remember? You came by. We had dinner one time. 596 00:29:59,632 --> 00:30:02,093 -But yeah. It's been a while. -NIKKI: I've had a... 597 00:30:02,177 --> 00:30:03,928 -It's been a long time. -THOMAS: It has. 598 00:30:03,970 --> 00:30:05,805 It really has, yeah! 599 00:30:05,889 --> 00:30:07,974 I wanna say a couple of things before I forget 600 00:30:08,058 --> 00:30:09,142 'cause my mind's not good. 601 00:30:09,225 --> 00:30:11,019 Well, it's not, and I have to recognize that. 602 00:30:11,102 --> 00:30:12,771 And I don't mean to embarrass him 603 00:30:12,812 --> 00:30:14,230 or anything, but it's a pleasure 604 00:30:14,272 --> 00:30:17,776 that my son has joined me this evening, Thomas Giovanni. 605 00:30:17,859 --> 00:30:19,819 -(CHUCKLES) -(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) 606 00:30:19,903 --> 00:30:23,656 And my very lovely granddaughter, Kai. (CHUCKLES) 607 00:30:23,740 --> 00:30:25,450 Yay. 608 00:30:25,533 --> 00:30:27,994 NIKKI: The book is A Good Cry and I learned to cry. 609 00:30:28,078 --> 00:30:29,496 And probably the only person in this room 610 00:30:29,579 --> 00:30:30,872 that understands that is Thomas, 611 00:30:30,955 --> 00:30:32,791 'cause I don't think Thomas has ever seen me cry, 612 00:30:32,874 --> 00:30:34,542 because I always made a point of not to. 613 00:30:34,626 --> 00:30:36,961 Some of the folks may know, some of them may not know, 614 00:30:37,003 --> 00:30:40,173 that you have "dreams" of going to outer space-- 615 00:30:40,256 --> 00:30:42,717 is the wrong word. You have an imperative. 616 00:30:42,801 --> 00:30:43,968 Tell them why. 617 00:30:44,010 --> 00:30:45,595 Well, you know, so again, I hate to say it, but-- 618 00:30:45,637 --> 00:30:47,764 No, I don't hate to say it, but we're Black women. 619 00:30:47,806 --> 00:30:49,974 If this-- coming to this country... 620 00:30:50,058 --> 00:30:53,311 (CHUCKLING) ...wasn't an alien situation, 621 00:30:53,353 --> 00:30:56,731 being forced to have sex with aliens, 622 00:30:56,815 --> 00:30:59,317 -having to learn-- -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 623 00:30:59,359 --> 00:31:00,318 We did. 624 00:31:00,402 --> 00:31:03,154 They were screwing us and what we did was, 625 00:31:03,238 --> 00:31:06,825 whatever they put in us, we... we held it, 626 00:31:06,908 --> 00:31:08,284 and then we birthed it, 627 00:31:08,326 --> 00:31:10,870 and then we named it, and we loved it. 628 00:31:10,954 --> 00:31:13,081 Why wouldn't we do that in Mars? 629 00:31:13,164 --> 00:31:15,000 Why wouldn't we do that in Jupiter? 630 00:31:15,083 --> 00:31:17,961 Why wouldn't... why wouldn't that same energy, 631 00:31:18,003 --> 00:31:21,047 that same love, that brought us here 632 00:31:21,131 --> 00:31:25,135 and helped us to make this a potentially great place, 633 00:31:25,176 --> 00:31:27,012 why wouldn't that same energy work? Of course. 634 00:31:27,095 --> 00:31:29,639 ♪ (SERENE DREAMY MUSIC PLAYS) ♪ 635 00:31:29,681 --> 00:31:32,100 (WAVES CRASHING) 636 00:31:41,192 --> 00:31:45,530 -(QUINDAR TONE BEEPING) -(SEAGULLS SQUAWKING) 637 00:31:52,704 --> 00:31:55,582 (ECHOING RUMBLING) 638 00:31:58,376 --> 00:32:01,046 NIKKI: When they came to these shores, 639 00:32:01,129 --> 00:32:03,882 they maintained a humane quality. 640 00:32:03,965 --> 00:32:05,425 And it's been a phenomenon. 641 00:32:07,552 --> 00:32:10,388 These people decided to fight a war with a song. 642 00:32:10,430 --> 00:32:13,266 They decided to fight a cultural war. 643 00:32:13,350 --> 00:32:14,392 With love. 644 00:32:19,105 --> 00:32:22,400 (WATER TRICKLING) 645 00:32:22,442 --> 00:32:24,569 (RUMBLING) 646 00:32:24,652 --> 00:32:26,654 NIKKI: When we go to Mars, it's the same thing. 647 00:32:26,738 --> 00:32:29,324 It's Middle Passage. When the rocket red glares, 648 00:32:29,407 --> 00:32:31,284 the astronauts will be able to see themselves 649 00:32:31,368 --> 00:32:34,245 pull away from Earth. As the ship goes deeper, 650 00:32:34,287 --> 00:32:36,081 they will see a sparkle of blue. 651 00:32:36,164 --> 00:32:39,167 And then one day, not only will they not see Earth, 652 00:32:39,250 --> 00:32:40,585 they won't know which way to look. 653 00:32:40,669 --> 00:32:43,296 And that's why NASA needs to call Black America. 654 00:32:43,380 --> 00:32:46,591 They need to ask us, "How did you calm your fears?" 655 00:32:50,303 --> 00:32:52,180 "How were you able to decide you were human 656 00:32:52,263 --> 00:32:54,224 even when everything said you were not?" 657 00:32:54,265 --> 00:32:57,352 "How did you find the comfort in the face of the improbable? 658 00:32:57,435 --> 00:32:59,479 To make the world you came to, your world?" 659 00:32:59,562 --> 00:33:01,272 (CHILDREN LAUGHING) 660 00:33:01,356 --> 00:33:04,609 NIKKI: "How was your soul able to look back and wonder?" 661 00:33:08,780 --> 00:33:11,324 (WATER GUSHING) 662 00:33:15,286 --> 00:33:16,579 NIKKI: The first thing that's gonna happen 663 00:33:16,621 --> 00:33:19,457 in Middle Passage, is the spiritual. 664 00:33:19,499 --> 00:33:21,960 Because it's gonna give us the spirit to go forward. 665 00:33:22,002 --> 00:33:23,044 It's gonna be that... 666 00:33:23,128 --> 00:33:25,296 ♪ (HUMMING SPIRITUAL MELODY) ♪ 667 00:33:25,380 --> 00:33:29,134 We didn't have any language that was universal. 668 00:33:29,217 --> 00:33:32,137 So the only thing that's gonna be universal, 669 00:33:32,178 --> 00:33:36,307 the only thing that can be spoken is gonna be music. 670 00:33:36,391 --> 00:33:38,768 And who's going to communicate with them? 671 00:33:38,810 --> 00:33:39,936 Who's gonna say, 672 00:33:39,978 --> 00:33:41,938 "Somehow we're gonna make it through." 673 00:33:41,980 --> 00:33:43,481 Has to be a woman. 674 00:33:43,565 --> 00:33:45,525 'Cause it was your grandmother. When things went wrong, 675 00:33:45,608 --> 00:33:48,445 it was your grandmother that said, "It'll be all right." 676 00:33:52,907 --> 00:33:55,035 (BURBLING) 677 00:33:57,412 --> 00:33:58,788 PEARL CLEAGE: It's often true, I think, 678 00:33:58,830 --> 00:34:00,540 that there is one person in a family 679 00:34:00,623 --> 00:34:02,584 who gets it, who understands that this child 680 00:34:02,667 --> 00:34:04,419 is a little different, but she's a writer. 681 00:34:04,502 --> 00:34:06,296 And it's my understanding that your grandmother 682 00:34:06,338 --> 00:34:08,505 was that person in your family for you. 683 00:34:08,547 --> 00:34:10,425 Yeah, can we talk a little bit about your grandmother? 684 00:34:10,507 --> 00:34:11,217 NIKKI: Yeah. 685 00:34:11,301 --> 00:34:12,719 And we got tissues, so you can cry 686 00:34:12,802 --> 00:34:13,844 all you want to. It's okay. 687 00:34:13,928 --> 00:34:16,848 You know, I still remember grandmother's phone number. 688 00:34:16,931 --> 00:34:18,350 It's 3-1-5-9-3. 689 00:34:18,850 --> 00:34:20,268 Um... 690 00:34:20,351 --> 00:34:22,062 -Yeah. -PEARL: Yeah. 691 00:34:22,145 --> 00:34:24,022 I just don't-- I don't know where we'd be without... 692 00:34:24,063 --> 00:34:26,107 without the grandmothers, period. 693 00:34:26,190 --> 00:34:27,984 Not just mine, one of the-- 694 00:34:28,025 --> 00:34:30,195 You know, you're not that much younger, 695 00:34:30,277 --> 00:34:33,656 but you'd look at Civil Rights just a smidgen different. 696 00:34:33,697 --> 00:34:34,574 But one of the things 697 00:34:34,657 --> 00:34:36,701 that definitely happened to people my age 698 00:34:36,784 --> 00:34:38,661 is that we had choices. 699 00:34:38,703 --> 00:34:43,541 We could tell our grandmothers we can't do it. 700 00:34:43,583 --> 00:34:46,168 -PEARL: Mm-hmm. -Or we could change the world. 701 00:34:46,210 --> 00:34:47,712 It was way easier 702 00:34:47,754 --> 00:34:49,464 -to change the world. -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 703 00:34:49,547 --> 00:34:51,132 -(PEARL LAUGHING) -NIKKI: It was. 704 00:34:51,216 --> 00:34:54,928 ♪ (OLD-TIMEY RADIO FANFARE PLAYING) ♪ 705 00:34:55,011 --> 00:34:56,971 RADIO JOCKEY: (ON RADIO) The new Rich's 706 00:34:57,054 --> 00:35:00,183 opening Monday, August 29 in Knoxville. 707 00:35:00,225 --> 00:35:05,438 ♪ (OLD-TIMEY RADIO FANFARE PLAYING) ♪ 708 00:35:05,522 --> 00:35:07,232 ♪ (SPIRITED PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 709 00:35:07,273 --> 00:35:08,858 NIKKI: And I never liked to picket, you know. 710 00:35:08,900 --> 00:35:11,277 I mean, some people got really high off of picketing. 711 00:35:11,361 --> 00:35:13,571 All of that stuff scared the crap out of me. 712 00:35:17,701 --> 00:35:20,912 But the day that the kids were bombed in Birmingham. 713 00:35:20,995 --> 00:35:22,455 Right? And that was a Sunday. 714 00:35:22,539 --> 00:35:24,916 'Cause in a way, the Birmingham bombing was war. 715 00:35:28,420 --> 00:35:31,548 And all of the old women-- that's when adults were adults-- 716 00:35:31,589 --> 00:35:34,009 all of the old women and men went to churches 717 00:35:34,092 --> 00:35:35,135 all over Knoxville, 718 00:35:35,218 --> 00:35:36,678 and they were trying to decide what to do 719 00:35:36,720 --> 00:35:38,138 and they decided to picket. 720 00:35:39,973 --> 00:35:41,182 And once you came in the house, 721 00:35:41,266 --> 00:35:42,434 Grandmother had one of those looks. 722 00:35:42,475 --> 00:35:44,936 and she said "Nikki" and I thought, "Uh-huh." 723 00:35:45,020 --> 00:35:47,272 -(PEARL LAUGHING) -I recognized the tone. 724 00:35:47,355 --> 00:35:50,608 She said, "Nikki, we decided we're going to picket." 725 00:35:50,650 --> 00:35:52,610 And I said, "Yes, Grandmother." 'Cause that was the answer. 726 00:35:52,652 --> 00:35:53,570 Then she said, 727 00:35:53,611 --> 00:35:56,239 "And they called for volunteers," and I said... 728 00:35:56,281 --> 00:35:57,741 -(PEARL LAUGHING) -"...Yes, Grandmother." 729 00:35:57,782 --> 00:35:59,993 She said, "And I told them John Brown and I..." 730 00:36:00,076 --> 00:36:02,912 'Cause that's my grandfather. "John Brown and I were too old, 731 00:36:02,954 --> 00:36:06,374 -but my granddaughter was here." -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 732 00:36:06,458 --> 00:36:07,917 I did mention, I said, "Does Mommy know" 733 00:36:07,959 --> 00:36:09,210 you're trying to get me killed?" 734 00:36:09,294 --> 00:36:10,879 -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) -But she gave me a hug 735 00:36:10,962 --> 00:36:12,047 and thought I was kidding. 736 00:36:12,130 --> 00:36:15,300 ♪ (STUDENT CHOIR VOCALIZING) ♪ 737 00:36:15,342 --> 00:36:17,594 CROWD: ♪ Go, go, go Go, go, go Bulldogs ♪ 738 00:36:17,635 --> 00:36:20,430 ♪ Go, go, go Go, go, go Bulldogs ♪ 739 00:36:20,472 --> 00:36:23,433 ♪ Go, go, go Go, go, go Bulldogs ♪ 740 00:36:23,475 --> 00:36:26,936 ♪ Go, go, go Go, go, go Bulldogs ♪ 741 00:36:26,978 --> 00:36:30,315 (ALL CHEERING) 742 00:36:30,398 --> 00:36:34,319 ♪ (SOFT PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 743 00:36:40,408 --> 00:36:42,285 NIKKI: I went to Fisk. 744 00:36:42,327 --> 00:36:44,913 I was there with John Lewis and Diane Nash. 745 00:36:46,498 --> 00:36:48,333 We sat in, in Nashville. 746 00:36:49,959 --> 00:36:54,005 PROTESTER: I asked a waitress for a hamburger and a Coke. 747 00:36:54,089 --> 00:36:55,674 I said, "I'm sorry, our management 748 00:36:55,715 --> 00:36:58,426 does not allow us to serve niggers in here." 749 00:37:00,303 --> 00:37:02,555 REPORTER: In the winter and early spring of 1960, 750 00:37:02,639 --> 00:37:05,183 the efforts of Nashville's Negro college students 751 00:37:05,225 --> 00:37:07,185 had led to the integration of lunch counters 752 00:37:07,227 --> 00:37:09,688 at six department and variety stores. 753 00:37:09,771 --> 00:37:11,648 But they were still excluded from eating 754 00:37:11,690 --> 00:37:14,234 at the city's downtown drug stores and restaurants, 755 00:37:14,317 --> 00:37:16,403 train depot, and the bus stop... 756 00:37:25,036 --> 00:37:26,830 -PEARL: You enrolled twice. -(NIKKI LAUGHING) 757 00:37:26,871 --> 00:37:29,541 The first time you were expelled after a run-in 758 00:37:29,582 --> 00:37:31,876 with the conservative dean of women. 759 00:37:31,918 --> 00:37:34,045 Your grandmother was very much in your corner, 760 00:37:34,087 --> 00:37:35,171 but Fisk didn't really care 761 00:37:35,213 --> 00:37:36,381 about anybody being in your corner 762 00:37:36,423 --> 00:37:37,549 and they asked you to leave. 763 00:37:37,632 --> 00:37:39,342 I wasn't really good at taking a lot of stuff. 764 00:37:39,384 --> 00:37:40,593 I think I had a lot of anger. 765 00:37:40,677 --> 00:37:43,596 ♪ (STUDENT CHOIR SINGING) ♪ 766 00:37:46,016 --> 00:37:47,767 NIKKI: Dean Cheatham and I had different visions 767 00:37:47,851 --> 00:37:51,396 of what a lady is, and what a woman should do. 768 00:37:51,479 --> 00:37:54,232 ♪ (STUDENT CHOIR CONTINUES SINGING) ♪ 769 00:37:54,315 --> 00:37:56,067 NIKKI: But I also realized, you know, 770 00:37:56,151 --> 00:37:58,153 all of my strengths are here up, right? 771 00:37:58,236 --> 00:37:59,404 It's all in my head, 772 00:37:59,487 --> 00:38:01,281 so that means I have to go back to school. 773 00:38:01,364 --> 00:38:03,283 Could I have enrolled at University of Cincinnati 774 00:38:03,366 --> 00:38:04,409 or something? Sure. 775 00:38:04,492 --> 00:38:06,286 But if I'm having a failure at Fisk, 776 00:38:06,369 --> 00:38:07,704 then I need to go back to Fisk. 777 00:38:07,746 --> 00:38:09,831 So I borrowed a friend's car and drove down 778 00:38:09,914 --> 00:38:11,666 and wanted to meet the dean of women. 779 00:38:11,750 --> 00:38:13,668 'Cause I figured if I couldn't get along with the dean, 780 00:38:13,752 --> 00:38:15,211 I'm not gonna make it the second time. 781 00:38:15,295 --> 00:38:17,505 -So that's gonna be a waste. -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 782 00:38:17,589 --> 00:38:20,467 How important was John O Killens's workshop 783 00:38:20,550 --> 00:38:22,344 to you at that moment? 784 00:38:22,427 --> 00:38:23,845 NIKKI: John Killens had 785 00:38:23,928 --> 00:38:26,806 the first Black Arts Festival at Fisk. 786 00:38:26,890 --> 00:38:29,517 And we had LeRoi Jones, he was LeRoi Jones then. 787 00:38:29,601 --> 00:38:30,602 That's when he was, 788 00:38:30,643 --> 00:38:31,936 "Up against the wall, motherfucker. 789 00:38:32,020 --> 00:38:34,939 This is a stickup," you know? I mean we just adored him. 790 00:38:36,441 --> 00:38:38,777 Negro Digest sent David Lawrence down. 791 00:38:38,860 --> 00:38:42,322 ♪ (SERENE DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 792 00:38:42,405 --> 00:38:45,784 NIKKI: David asked everybody to write something. 793 00:38:50,372 --> 00:38:52,123 That was my first experience in publishing, 794 00:38:52,207 --> 00:38:53,541 and I was just very lucky. 795 00:39:08,431 --> 00:39:12,519 ♪ (MELLOW JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 796 00:39:19,484 --> 00:39:21,277 NIKKI: I'm basically a city girl. 797 00:39:21,319 --> 00:39:24,155 I went to New York, I think I was 22, 798 00:39:24,197 --> 00:39:25,240 23 years old, I don't... 799 00:39:25,323 --> 00:39:26,700 I don't actually remember right now. 800 00:39:26,783 --> 00:39:29,119 I guess just '67, whatever that amounts to. 801 00:39:29,160 --> 00:39:31,663 One of things I wanted to do, of course, was write. 802 00:39:31,705 --> 00:39:33,540 And in writing, one of the skills 803 00:39:33,623 --> 00:39:35,792 that I wanted to take to the New York experience 804 00:39:35,875 --> 00:39:37,335 was small-town skills. 805 00:39:37,419 --> 00:39:40,547 And this is like, this is when Nikki was crazy. 806 00:39:42,132 --> 00:39:43,341 My mother's a jazz fan 807 00:39:43,425 --> 00:39:45,010 and I wanted to do something for Mommy. 808 00:39:46,636 --> 00:39:47,762 New York is, you know, 809 00:39:47,846 --> 00:39:50,015 none of the clubs are open on Sunday. 810 00:39:50,682 --> 00:39:52,517 So, I went to Birdland. 811 00:39:52,559 --> 00:39:54,728 There's a guy there, Harold Logan. 812 00:39:54,811 --> 00:39:57,689 ♪ (MELLOW JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 813 00:39:57,731 --> 00:39:59,524 NIKKI: I went down and introduced myself 814 00:39:59,607 --> 00:40:01,776 and had my book and I said I'd like to, 815 00:40:01,860 --> 00:40:04,237 you know, have a book party on a Sunday 816 00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:05,405 since you're closed anyway. 817 00:40:05,488 --> 00:40:07,365 His position was, "What do I get?" 818 00:40:07,407 --> 00:40:09,534 Because he's a businessman and he's a thug. 819 00:40:09,617 --> 00:40:11,161 And I said, "Well... 820 00:40:12,037 --> 00:40:13,788 what do you need?" (CHUCKLES) 821 00:40:13,872 --> 00:40:15,540 Because I didn't have any-- I didn't have any money. 822 00:40:15,582 --> 00:40:16,958 You know, it didn't matter. What do you need? 823 00:40:17,042 --> 00:40:19,961 And he said, "Okay, Giovanni." Giovanni, like that. 824 00:40:20,045 --> 00:40:22,339 He said, "Okay, Giovanni, bring me a hundred people. 825 00:40:22,380 --> 00:40:23,548 And the club is free. 826 00:40:23,590 --> 00:40:25,550 Ninety-nine people and you'll have to pay me." 827 00:40:25,592 --> 00:40:26,760 I said, "That's fair enough." 828 00:40:26,843 --> 00:40:28,345 'Cause I think I can get 100 people to do anything. 829 00:40:28,386 --> 00:40:30,055 My friend, Morgan Freeman, 830 00:40:30,096 --> 00:40:32,057 he was my next-door neighbor. Morgan read for me. 831 00:40:32,140 --> 00:40:33,808 Novella Nelson read for me. 832 00:40:33,892 --> 00:40:36,353 A bunch of people, you know. So it was gonna be fun. 833 00:40:36,394 --> 00:40:39,189 But Birdland sits, 834 00:40:39,230 --> 00:40:42,567 or at that point, it sat almost-- 835 00:40:42,650 --> 00:40:44,986 What do you-- Catty-cornered to the New York Times. 836 00:40:45,070 --> 00:40:47,989 So people started coming early because it was free. 837 00:40:48,073 --> 00:40:49,324 And then, the line 838 00:40:49,407 --> 00:40:51,493 went out, and then the line turned a corner. 839 00:40:51,576 --> 00:40:52,619 And by that time 840 00:40:52,702 --> 00:40:54,746 New York Times is looking down and seeing 841 00:40:54,788 --> 00:40:57,665 predominantly Black people lined up. 842 00:40:57,749 --> 00:40:59,501 So they went-- they sent a reporter down 843 00:40:59,584 --> 00:41:00,669 to see what's going on. 844 00:41:00,752 --> 00:41:02,754 And finally, the reporter came up and said, 845 00:41:02,796 --> 00:41:05,340 "I'm looking for Nick Giovanni. Do you know where he is?" 846 00:41:05,423 --> 00:41:07,717 And I-- "I'm Nick Giovanni." 847 00:41:07,759 --> 00:41:08,927 (LAUGHS) You know. "You're looking for me." 848 00:41:09,010 --> 00:41:11,179 "No, no, I'm looking for Nick Giovanni." 849 00:41:11,262 --> 00:41:12,222 "I'm Nikki Gio--" You know, 850 00:41:12,263 --> 00:41:13,640 it just took him a minute to realize. 851 00:41:13,723 --> 00:41:14,933 And he said, "What is this?" 852 00:41:14,974 --> 00:41:16,810 And the answer was, "Black Judgement is coming." 853 00:41:17,268 --> 00:41:18,937 (LAUGHING) 854 00:41:19,020 --> 00:41:21,690 If you see a first edition of that book, it's beautiful. 855 00:41:27,070 --> 00:41:27,987 But I said, well, 856 00:41:28,071 --> 00:41:29,948 who's gonna publish my poetry, right? 857 00:41:29,989 --> 00:41:32,659 Nobody. So I called my grandmother 858 00:41:32,742 --> 00:41:34,119 and I asked a few other people 859 00:41:34,202 --> 00:41:36,579 to give me a loan and I had the book published. 860 00:41:36,621 --> 00:41:39,708 I had 1,000 copies of it. So you have to sell it, right? 861 00:41:39,791 --> 00:41:42,502 And I sent five copies here, five copies there, 862 00:41:42,585 --> 00:41:43,837 asked the people to sell it. 863 00:41:43,920 --> 00:41:45,547 They sold and, you know, you get these little checks 864 00:41:45,630 --> 00:41:46,715 for three dollars, you know? 865 00:41:46,798 --> 00:41:48,925 ♪ (MELLOW JAZZ MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪ 866 00:41:50,969 --> 00:41:52,721 NIKKI: "Walking down Fifth Avenue 867 00:41:52,804 --> 00:41:54,472 in my bell-bottoms and Earth shoes, 868 00:41:54,514 --> 00:41:55,724 smoking a cigarette 869 00:41:55,807 --> 00:41:58,268 because I didn't know the dangers of lung cancer, 870 00:41:58,309 --> 00:41:59,811 nor the pleasures of wine. 871 00:41:59,894 --> 00:42:02,147 There was a bookstore on this corner 872 00:42:02,188 --> 00:42:03,815 and that corner. 873 00:42:03,898 --> 00:42:06,151 Life was difficult for a Black girl with no money, 874 00:42:06,234 --> 00:42:09,070 who only had a dream of talent measured by truth. 875 00:42:09,154 --> 00:42:12,449 But passing those bookstores with a confident smoke, 876 00:42:12,532 --> 00:42:16,161 there was possibility. Always the possibility." 877 00:42:16,244 --> 00:42:18,079 ♪ (MELLOW JAZZ MUSIC FADES) ♪ 878 00:42:22,167 --> 00:42:24,336 LEWIS MICHAUX: I was lecturing the other day 879 00:42:24,419 --> 00:42:26,004 down in this same cellar, 880 00:42:26,046 --> 00:42:28,256 and a gang of little Black boys came in. 881 00:42:28,340 --> 00:42:29,632 They held up their fists. 882 00:42:29,674 --> 00:42:33,219 Talking about Black power. I said, "Look, son, 883 00:42:33,303 --> 00:42:36,598 I'd like to straighten you out." I said, "Black... 884 00:42:36,681 --> 00:42:39,142 is beautiful, but Black isn't power. 885 00:42:39,184 --> 00:42:40,894 Knowledge is power." 886 00:42:42,896 --> 00:42:46,274 NIKKI: The day that Mr. Michaux said, 887 00:42:46,358 --> 00:42:48,735 "Giovanni, you have a minute?" 888 00:42:48,818 --> 00:42:51,738 Because, you know, underneath he had that cellar 889 00:42:51,821 --> 00:42:54,366 and he had the coffee from Ghana, 890 00:42:54,407 --> 00:42:56,451 and when he asked me if I could stay, 891 00:42:56,534 --> 00:42:57,577 and have the coffee with you, 892 00:42:57,660 --> 00:42:58,953 I thought, "Oh shit, I'm important." 893 00:42:59,037 --> 00:43:00,372 -(LAUGHS) -(NIKKI CHUCKLING) 894 00:43:00,413 --> 00:43:02,999 (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) 895 00:43:03,041 --> 00:43:07,379 SPECTATOR: Where were you on April 4th, 1968? 896 00:43:07,420 --> 00:43:08,963 (AUDIENCE MURMURING) 897 00:43:09,047 --> 00:43:11,299 -I don't know. -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 898 00:43:11,383 --> 00:43:13,385 I know what it was. You know, Martin was killed. 899 00:43:13,426 --> 00:43:16,179 I just don't know where I was. I don't know. I'm sorry. 900 00:43:16,221 --> 00:43:18,598 SPECTATOR: But how did that day affect you? 901 00:43:22,769 --> 00:43:25,271 I'm sure it's a good question, but I'm not-- 902 00:43:25,355 --> 00:43:28,233 I've already answered and I... 903 00:43:28,316 --> 00:43:29,734 I can't take it any further. 904 00:43:29,776 --> 00:43:32,112 I don't know what else to say about it. I'm sorry. 905 00:43:32,195 --> 00:43:33,238 I really am. 906 00:43:34,322 --> 00:43:38,076 ♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 907 00:43:45,291 --> 00:43:47,711 NARRATOR: (AS NIKKI) "What can I, a poor Black woman, 908 00:43:47,752 --> 00:43:49,838 do to destroy America? 909 00:43:51,756 --> 00:43:54,759 This is a question with appropriate variations 910 00:43:54,801 --> 00:43:57,095 being asked in every Black heart. 911 00:43:57,721 --> 00:43:59,180 There is one answer. 912 00:43:59,723 --> 00:44:01,224 I can kill. 913 00:44:01,266 --> 00:44:05,687 There is one compromise. I can protect those who kill. 914 00:44:07,313 --> 00:44:11,735 There is one cop-out. I can encourage others to kill. 915 00:44:11,776 --> 00:44:14,487 There are no other ways. 916 00:44:14,571 --> 00:44:16,448 The assassination of Martin Luther King 917 00:44:16,531 --> 00:44:18,116 is an act of war. 918 00:44:19,659 --> 00:44:22,871 And some honky asked about the reaction. 919 00:44:22,954 --> 00:44:24,247 What do you people want? 920 00:44:24,289 --> 00:44:26,458 Isn't it enough that you killed him? 921 00:44:26,541 --> 00:44:28,585 You wanna tell me how to mourn? 922 00:44:28,626 --> 00:44:31,713 You want to determine how, I, a lover, 923 00:44:31,796 --> 00:44:34,883 should respond to the death of my beloved? 924 00:44:34,966 --> 00:44:36,509 May he rest in peace. 925 00:44:36,593 --> 00:44:40,889 May his blood choke the life of ten hundred million Whites. 926 00:44:40,972 --> 00:44:44,225 May the warriors in the streets go ever forth into the stores 927 00:44:44,309 --> 00:44:48,396 for guns and TVs, for whatever makes them happy." 928 00:44:48,480 --> 00:44:50,273 STOKELY CARMICHAEL: I think the country made a mistake 929 00:44:50,315 --> 00:44:51,733 when they killed Dr. King. 930 00:44:51,816 --> 00:44:52,817 Would've been far better 931 00:44:52,901 --> 00:44:54,861 if they killed Rap Brown or myself. 932 00:44:54,944 --> 00:44:56,696 Because then they could say to Black people 933 00:44:56,780 --> 00:44:59,991 that, uh, we're preaching guns and he who preaches-- 934 00:45:00,075 --> 00:45:02,535 who lives by the sword, will die by the sword. 935 00:45:02,619 --> 00:45:04,621 But they couldn't do that for Dr. King, 936 00:45:04,662 --> 00:45:06,581 because he preached love. 937 00:45:06,664 --> 00:45:09,626 And there is no possible way for them to... 938 00:45:09,668 --> 00:45:13,004 to make an excuse of Dr. King's killing. 939 00:45:13,088 --> 00:45:15,799 So, when they killed Dr. King, they just opened up the eyes 940 00:45:15,840 --> 00:45:17,967 of a lot of Black people. 941 00:45:18,009 --> 00:45:20,970 ♪ (EERIE PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 942 00:45:24,683 --> 00:45:26,059 NIKKI: "When I was a teenager, 943 00:45:26,142 --> 00:45:28,019 I used to sit on front porch steps 944 00:45:28,061 --> 00:45:30,814 conversing the gym teacher's son with embryonic eyes 945 00:45:30,855 --> 00:45:33,233 about the essential essence of the universe, 946 00:45:33,316 --> 00:45:36,403 recognizing the basic powerlessness of me. 947 00:45:36,486 --> 00:45:37,696 But then I went to college 948 00:45:37,779 --> 00:45:40,990 where I learned that just because everything I was 949 00:45:41,074 --> 00:45:42,075 was unreal, 950 00:45:42,158 --> 00:45:43,201 I could be real. 951 00:45:43,284 --> 00:45:45,161 And not just real through withdrawal 952 00:45:45,203 --> 00:45:46,913 and through emotional crosshairs 953 00:45:46,996 --> 00:45:49,749 or colored-bourgeois intellectual pretensions, 954 00:45:49,833 --> 00:45:52,711 but from involvement with things approaching reality. 955 00:45:52,794 --> 00:45:54,713 I could possibly have a life. 956 00:45:54,796 --> 00:45:56,172 So catatonic emotions 957 00:45:56,214 --> 00:45:58,717 and time-wasting sex games were replaced 958 00:45:58,800 --> 00:46:02,554 with functioning commitments to logic and necessity. 959 00:46:02,595 --> 00:46:04,389 For a while, progress was made 960 00:46:04,431 --> 00:46:06,766 along with a certain degree of happiness. 961 00:46:06,850 --> 00:46:09,102 'Cause I wrote a book and found a love, 962 00:46:09,185 --> 00:46:12,397 and organized a theater and even gave some lessons, 963 00:46:12,439 --> 00:46:15,817 some lectures on Black history, and began to believe 964 00:46:15,900 --> 00:46:17,652 all good people could get together 965 00:46:17,736 --> 00:46:19,904 and win without bloodshed. 966 00:46:19,946 --> 00:46:23,908 Then Hammarskjöld was killed, and Lumumba was killed, 967 00:46:23,992 --> 00:46:26,870 and Diem was killed, and Kennedy was killed, 968 00:46:26,911 --> 00:46:29,831 and Malcolm was killed, and Evers was killed. 969 00:46:29,914 --> 00:46:32,250 and Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman were killed, 970 00:46:32,334 --> 00:46:35,170 and King was killed, and Kennedy was killed. 971 00:46:35,253 --> 00:46:39,049 And sometimes I wonder why I didn't become a debutante 972 00:46:39,090 --> 00:46:42,302 sitting on doctors' porches, going to church all the time, 973 00:46:42,385 --> 00:46:44,971 wondering, 'is my eye makeup on straight?' 974 00:46:45,055 --> 00:46:48,892 Or a withdrawn, discoursing on the stars and the moon. 975 00:46:48,933 --> 00:46:51,269 Instead of a for real Black person 976 00:46:51,353 --> 00:46:55,273 who must now feel and inflict pain." 977 00:47:01,112 --> 00:47:03,114 BALDWIN: But sweetheart... 978 00:47:03,198 --> 00:47:04,699 What you're saying is very, very serious. 979 00:47:04,783 --> 00:47:08,078 I'm not in the least denying it, 'cause you're perfectly right. 980 00:47:08,119 --> 00:47:09,746 I'm not being a missionary 981 00:47:09,788 --> 00:47:12,082 -trying to save America. -(LAUGHS) 982 00:47:13,667 --> 00:47:15,960 But I do know that-- I do know that... 983 00:47:16,044 --> 00:47:18,630 we have paid too much for it to be able to abandon it. 984 00:47:19,964 --> 00:47:22,634 We can never abandon it. 985 00:47:22,676 --> 00:47:23,968 I don't think that that's a question, 986 00:47:24,010 --> 00:47:25,762 because where else are we gonna go? 987 00:47:25,804 --> 00:47:27,055 I mean, nobody else wants us. 988 00:47:27,138 --> 00:47:28,473 -But in any case... -That's the truth. 989 00:47:28,515 --> 00:47:30,725 In any case, my father and my father's father 990 00:47:30,809 --> 00:47:32,102 has paid too much for it. 991 00:47:32,143 --> 00:47:33,478 I've paid too much for it. 992 00:47:33,561 --> 00:47:34,771 -I'm only 28. -Yes, yes. 993 00:47:34,813 --> 00:47:36,231 'Cause, like, I deserve, you know, 994 00:47:36,314 --> 00:47:37,816 to do whatever I wanna do with it. 995 00:47:37,857 --> 00:47:40,860 -Mm-hmm. -You know, whatever that means. 996 00:47:40,944 --> 00:47:42,779 Well, I-- personally, I'm just not interested 997 00:47:42,821 --> 00:47:44,364 in many things that people are interested in. 998 00:47:44,447 --> 00:47:47,826 I'm not interested in the president or a Congress. 999 00:47:47,909 --> 00:47:50,036 Because it's still somebody trying to run my life. 1000 00:47:50,120 --> 00:47:53,039 I'm not interested in movements and ideologies. 1001 00:47:53,123 --> 00:47:54,916 I just don't give a damn. 1002 00:47:56,084 --> 00:47:59,462 ♪ (GENTLE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1003 00:48:04,342 --> 00:48:06,302 NIKKI: For the first two years I was in New York, 1004 00:48:06,344 --> 00:48:07,762 I was just taking care of myself. 1005 00:48:07,846 --> 00:48:11,349 But then after I had Thomas, I had responsibilities, right? 1006 00:48:11,433 --> 00:48:13,518 And I didn't have a job and didn't want a job, 1007 00:48:13,560 --> 00:48:14,728 wasn't looking for a job, 1008 00:48:14,811 --> 00:48:16,896 which meant that I had to earn a living 1009 00:48:16,980 --> 00:48:19,274 from my poetry. I had to buy diapers, 1010 00:48:19,357 --> 00:48:20,984 and for the first time in my life, 1011 00:48:21,026 --> 00:48:22,652 I had to buy food for somebody. 1012 00:48:23,611 --> 00:48:25,238 I'd be on the road, uh... 1013 00:48:26,072 --> 00:48:29,868 I don't know, 48 weeks out of 52? 1014 00:48:29,909 --> 00:48:32,454 And so Thomas, of course, is nomadic. 1015 00:48:32,537 --> 00:48:35,206 I mean, I'm sure to some degree he felt like 1016 00:48:35,248 --> 00:48:37,125 life was more on an airplane 1017 00:48:37,208 --> 00:48:38,877 than anyplace else 'cause I took him with me 1018 00:48:38,960 --> 00:48:40,628 until he was able to go to school. 1019 00:48:49,054 --> 00:48:51,056 NARRATOR: (AS NIKKI) "My son is so lucky. 1020 00:48:51,139 --> 00:48:57,312 I had him educated, vaccinated, and gave him swimming lessons. 1021 00:48:58,021 --> 00:48:59,397 He is unhappy. 1022 00:49:00,231 --> 00:49:02,275 He doesn't know that's love." 1023 00:49:04,027 --> 00:49:08,406 ♪ (MELLOW JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1024 00:49:09,741 --> 00:49:11,034 I have a son. 1025 00:49:11,076 --> 00:49:13,078 So I think I have some insight into young men. 1026 00:49:13,161 --> 00:49:15,413 It is a sad thing sometimes to be a Black man. 1027 00:49:16,539 --> 00:49:18,917 I rode off to colleges for applications. 1028 00:49:19,000 --> 00:49:20,168 I did my little mother thing 1029 00:49:20,251 --> 00:49:21,920 so that he would know what's available. 1030 00:49:22,003 --> 00:49:23,797 I took him around to colleges and everything. 1031 00:49:23,880 --> 00:49:25,340 But he still did wanna go to Paris, 1032 00:49:25,423 --> 00:49:26,883 because he said he wanted to find himself. 1033 00:49:26,925 --> 00:49:28,093 I have to laugh at my son 1034 00:49:28,176 --> 00:49:29,427 because I'm always under the impression 1035 00:49:29,469 --> 00:49:32,305 you cannot find something where you didn't lose it. 1036 00:49:32,389 --> 00:49:34,974 ♪ (MELLOW JAZZ MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪ 1037 00:49:35,058 --> 00:49:36,351 NIKKI: We were sitting around talking 1038 00:49:36,434 --> 00:49:38,186 and I said, you know, "Have you thought about college?" 1039 00:49:38,269 --> 00:49:39,521 "Well, I'm not ready." 1040 00:49:39,604 --> 00:49:41,564 I said, "Tell you what, I have a counter offer here. 1041 00:49:41,606 --> 00:49:44,859 How about you go to the army, or you get out of my life?" 1042 00:49:44,943 --> 00:49:46,444 -So... -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 1043 00:49:46,486 --> 00:49:48,029 It worked very well. He went to the army. 1044 00:49:48,113 --> 00:49:50,115 -I'm very proud of him. (LAUGHS) -(AUDIENCE CHUCKLING) 1045 00:49:50,156 --> 00:49:52,242 I am. He's soldier of the week or something, 1046 00:49:52,283 --> 00:49:55,078 I get letters from his commanding officer. 1047 00:49:55,120 --> 00:49:58,123 -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) -It's been fun. It's been great. 1048 00:49:58,164 --> 00:49:59,833 Because my son grew up with a bunch of women 1049 00:49:59,916 --> 00:50:01,001 and some of you all did. 1050 00:50:01,084 --> 00:50:03,003 And I'm like probably any other parent. 1051 00:50:03,086 --> 00:50:04,254 You know, he likes his milk glass 1052 00:50:04,295 --> 00:50:05,839 chilled in the morning. So I would, you know, 1053 00:50:05,922 --> 00:50:06,965 wake up in the morning 1054 00:50:07,007 --> 00:50:08,216 and put his milk glass in the freezer, 1055 00:50:08,299 --> 00:50:10,093 so that it would be nice and cold for him. 1056 00:50:10,135 --> 00:50:12,220 He went to the army, not only was the glass not cold, 1057 00:50:12,303 --> 00:50:14,305 -the milk wasn't. You know? -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 1058 00:50:14,389 --> 00:50:16,474 And that was a wonderful thing, because my son realized 1059 00:50:16,516 --> 00:50:18,309 that everybody doesn't have somebody who loves them. 1060 00:50:18,351 --> 00:50:20,020 Some of you don't know that even yet. 1061 00:50:20,103 --> 00:50:21,646 Some of you think the world is out there 1062 00:50:21,688 --> 00:50:22,480 and it's supposed to love you. 1063 00:50:22,564 --> 00:50:24,190 The world doesn't really care very much. 1064 00:50:24,274 --> 00:50:25,316 Some of the world is hostile. 1065 00:50:25,400 --> 00:50:26,985 But, mostly, the world doesn't give a damn. 1066 00:50:27,068 --> 00:50:28,945 And it's very hard to get that across 1067 00:50:28,987 --> 00:50:30,530 to those of us who are young men, 1068 00:50:30,613 --> 00:50:32,657 because you actually get disappointed. 1069 00:50:32,741 --> 00:50:33,992 You know, your heart is hurt 1070 00:50:34,034 --> 00:50:36,411 that somebody isn't being nice to you 1071 00:50:36,494 --> 00:50:37,328 or kind to you. 1072 00:50:37,370 --> 00:50:39,164 Reality says you're gonna have to buck up. 1073 00:50:39,247 --> 00:50:42,667 ♪ (SOFT PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1074 00:50:51,051 --> 00:50:52,844 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 1075 00:50:52,927 --> 00:50:56,139 Not since Kobe, no matter what the day is. 1076 00:50:56,181 --> 00:50:57,974 Oh, that's right. 1077 00:50:58,016 --> 00:51:00,143 GINNEY: Nikki and her son were estranged 1078 00:51:00,185 --> 00:51:01,644 for a number of years. 1079 00:51:02,771 --> 00:51:05,774 The last couple of years, they began to... 1080 00:51:07,359 --> 00:51:10,028 get back together and... 1081 00:51:10,111 --> 00:51:13,615 she's crazy about having this granddaughter, 1082 00:51:13,698 --> 00:51:17,243 who she's really gotten to know only in the last year or two. 1083 00:51:17,327 --> 00:51:19,412 And she and her son are... 1084 00:51:21,206 --> 00:51:23,541 having a friendship again. 1085 00:51:23,583 --> 00:51:26,211 And that's good, 'cause now we're old and... 1086 00:51:27,587 --> 00:51:30,298 who knows how long anybody will live. 1087 00:51:30,382 --> 00:51:32,217 THOMAS: You look like Grandmother. 1088 00:51:32,300 --> 00:51:33,468 NIKKI: I look like Grandmother? 1089 00:51:33,551 --> 00:51:35,553 -THOMAS: Mm-hmm. -NIKKI: No, is that... (LAUGHS) 1090 00:51:35,595 --> 00:51:37,847 No, you make-- She used to make the same face 1091 00:51:37,889 --> 00:51:39,265 -kinda sitting around. -NIKKI: Really? 1092 00:51:39,349 --> 00:51:42,185 THOMAS: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. 1093 00:51:42,227 --> 00:51:44,354 NIKKI: Can you take a photo of me and Kai? 1094 00:51:47,982 --> 00:51:49,275 If you don't mind. 1095 00:51:51,778 --> 00:51:52,946 This look okay to you? 1096 00:51:53,029 --> 00:51:54,489 -Yes. -My face look okay? 1097 00:51:54,572 --> 00:51:56,491 Very nice. 1098 00:51:56,574 --> 00:51:58,743 REPORTER: Tell us about the title of your book. 1099 00:51:58,785 --> 00:51:59,536 I'm sorry? 1100 00:51:59,577 --> 00:52:00,745 REPORTER: The title of your book. 1101 00:52:00,829 --> 00:52:01,788 Make Me Rain? 1102 00:52:01,871 --> 00:52:03,790 REPORTER: Yeah, and how did you come up with that? 1103 00:52:03,873 --> 00:52:07,085 Actually, having Kai here, that's why I wanted a picture. 1104 00:52:07,168 --> 00:52:09,129 If I'm rain, she's the blossom. 1105 00:52:09,212 --> 00:52:10,672 As you get older, which, 1106 00:52:10,755 --> 00:52:12,757 I'm the oldest person here, of course, 1107 00:52:12,841 --> 00:52:14,300 one of the things you know 1108 00:52:14,384 --> 00:52:16,386 is that you wanna leave something. 1109 00:52:16,428 --> 00:52:18,054 And the only way to leave something 1110 00:52:18,096 --> 00:52:19,514 is to transition it. 1111 00:52:19,597 --> 00:52:21,933 And so rain is what makes that possible. 1112 00:52:22,017 --> 00:52:24,602 -(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING) -PHOTOGRAPHER 1: And smile. 1113 00:52:24,686 --> 00:52:26,396 -PHOTOGRAPHER 2: Big smile... -PHOTOGRAPHER 1: Yeah! 1114 00:52:26,438 --> 00:52:27,564 (CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING) 1115 00:52:27,605 --> 00:52:29,024 PHOTOGRAPHER 2: Don't worry about those teeth. 1116 00:52:29,107 --> 00:52:30,608 -PHOTOGRAPHER 1: Perfect. -(CHUCKLES) 1117 00:52:33,236 --> 00:52:35,405 (VEHICLES HONKING) 1118 00:52:37,365 --> 00:52:39,242 NIKKI: Pearl always says I didn't babysit her 1119 00:52:39,284 --> 00:52:40,994 because I'm not that much older than she is. 1120 00:52:41,077 --> 00:52:42,287 But what she forgets 1121 00:52:42,370 --> 00:52:46,124 is that the difference between 20 and 12, 1122 00:52:46,207 --> 00:52:47,375 is-- it changes. 1123 00:52:47,459 --> 00:52:50,045 -When you're 20 and 28, right? -(PEARL CHUCKLING) 1124 00:52:50,128 --> 00:52:53,465 And when you get to be 40 and 48, right? 1125 00:52:53,548 --> 00:52:54,341 It gets erased. 1126 00:52:54,424 --> 00:52:56,593 You're actually now older than I am. 1127 00:52:56,634 --> 00:52:58,636 -Because-- -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 1128 00:52:58,678 --> 00:53:00,472 -(LAUGHS) -Right? 1129 00:53:00,513 --> 00:53:02,640 Because she's a grandmother and I'm not. 1130 00:53:02,682 --> 00:53:04,017 -And grandmothers-- -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 1131 00:53:04,100 --> 00:53:07,771 I could go out into the street and get my head beat, right? 1132 00:53:07,812 --> 00:53:09,814 Or I could babysit 1133 00:53:09,856 --> 00:53:11,858 and be doing revolutionary duty. 1134 00:53:11,941 --> 00:53:13,318 This was a no-brainer. 1135 00:53:13,401 --> 00:53:15,153 -(PEARL LAUGHING) -So... 1136 00:53:15,236 --> 00:53:18,073 ♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1137 00:53:18,156 --> 00:53:20,200 NIKKI: Detroit was the center. 1138 00:53:21,368 --> 00:53:24,204 And Reverend Cleage was very, very important. 1139 00:53:24,287 --> 00:53:27,165 ALBERT CLEAGE: Everybody knows police brutality exists. 1140 00:53:27,248 --> 00:53:29,250 For police officers to take our time, 1141 00:53:29,334 --> 00:53:31,336 to waste the time of an entire nation, 1142 00:53:31,378 --> 00:53:33,546 talking about they never heard of police brutality, 1143 00:53:33,630 --> 00:53:34,839 they don't know what Black people 1144 00:53:34,923 --> 00:53:35,757 are talking about, 1145 00:53:35,840 --> 00:53:37,592 they can't prove it. We know in Detroit, 1146 00:53:37,676 --> 00:53:41,346 any time a Black person is brutalized by the police, 1147 00:53:41,388 --> 00:53:43,264 he goes into court and he's arrested 1148 00:53:43,348 --> 00:53:44,349 for assault and battery. 1149 00:53:44,391 --> 00:53:46,351 Now, the basic issue is so simple, 1150 00:53:46,393 --> 00:53:47,977 and nobody will even touch it, 1151 00:53:48,019 --> 00:53:49,437 because you're afraid to touch it. 1152 00:53:49,521 --> 00:53:51,690 You are deliberately trying to evade the issue. 1153 00:53:51,731 --> 00:53:54,818 -Everybody-- -(AUDIENCE CHEERING) 1154 00:53:56,486 --> 00:54:02,075 NIKKI: And Reverend Cleage knew that he couldn't leave his kids. 1155 00:54:02,158 --> 00:54:03,368 Couldn't leave 'em alone. 1156 00:54:03,410 --> 00:54:05,870 And so he needed somebody to stay with the kids. 1157 00:54:05,912 --> 00:54:06,830 I'd laugh, but it's true. 1158 00:54:06,871 --> 00:54:09,332 I said, "I'll stay. I'll stay with 'em." 1159 00:54:09,374 --> 00:54:11,626 And, of course, you're gonna turn the lights out 1160 00:54:11,710 --> 00:54:13,420 because everybody knew where Reverend Cleage 1161 00:54:13,503 --> 00:54:16,339 and Mrs. Cleage lived. And everybody knew... 1162 00:54:17,382 --> 00:54:19,509 how to go in and shoot them. And so, 1163 00:54:19,551 --> 00:54:21,886 one of the things that Al, his name was Al, that Al knew 1164 00:54:21,928 --> 00:54:25,849 was that I was not gonna let his kids get killed. 1165 00:54:25,890 --> 00:54:29,227 During those days, of course, everybody, you know, had a gun. 1166 00:54:29,269 --> 00:54:32,063 So, uh, you just prepare to... 1167 00:54:32,147 --> 00:54:34,858 to take care of the people you're supposed to take care of. 1168 00:54:36,526 --> 00:54:39,612 I say violence is necessary. 1169 00:54:39,696 --> 00:54:42,032 Violence is a part of America's culture. 1170 00:54:42,073 --> 00:54:44,284 It is as American as cherry pie. 1171 00:54:44,367 --> 00:54:46,119 It's not us that's preaching violence. 1172 00:54:46,202 --> 00:54:48,163 It's not us that's dealing violence. 1173 00:54:48,204 --> 00:54:50,707 It's us that are being subjected to violence. 1174 00:54:51,750 --> 00:54:53,418 ♪ (TENSE ETHEREAL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1175 00:54:53,501 --> 00:54:55,086 NARRATOR: (AS NIKKI) "Nigger, can you kill? 1176 00:54:55,920 --> 00:54:57,047 Can you kill? 1177 00:54:58,256 --> 00:54:59,924 Can a nigger kill a honky? 1178 00:55:03,011 --> 00:55:04,929 Can a nigger kill the man? 1179 00:55:06,431 --> 00:55:08,641 Can you kill, nigger, huh? 1180 00:55:10,518 --> 00:55:13,813 Do you know how to draw blood? Can you poison? 1181 00:55:14,397 --> 00:55:15,732 Can you kill? 1182 00:55:20,445 --> 00:55:23,782 Can you run a Protestant down with your '68 El Dorado? 1183 00:55:24,699 --> 00:55:26,034 Can you kill? 1184 00:55:26,117 --> 00:55:30,246 Can you piss on a blonde head? Can you cut it off? 1185 00:55:30,288 --> 00:55:32,624 Can you kill the nigger in you? 1186 00:55:33,583 --> 00:55:34,834 A nigger can die. 1187 00:55:34,918 --> 00:55:36,961 We ain't got to prove we can die. 1188 00:55:37,045 --> 00:55:39,506 We got to prove we can kill. 1189 00:55:39,589 --> 00:55:41,800 We killed in Vietnam for them. 1190 00:55:41,883 --> 00:55:45,637 We kill for UN and NATO, and SEATO and US, 1191 00:55:45,720 --> 00:55:49,349 and everywhere for all alphabet but Black. 1192 00:55:50,433 --> 00:55:53,395 Can we learn to kill White for Black? 1193 00:55:53,478 --> 00:55:58,149 Learn to kill, niggers. Learn to be Black men." 1194 00:55:59,359 --> 00:56:02,779 ♪ (PENSIVE DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1195 00:56:09,953 --> 00:56:11,329 (CROWD WHISTLING) 1196 00:56:11,371 --> 00:56:15,667 ♪ (CROWD SINGING "THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER") ♪ 1197 00:56:16,001 --> 00:56:17,794 (LOUD CRASH) 1198 00:56:17,836 --> 00:56:21,881 ♪ (PENSIVE DREAMY MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪ 1199 00:56:57,042 --> 00:56:58,835 NIKKI: I like football. 1200 00:56:59,878 --> 00:57:02,672 And when I watch the young men, I watch Colin, 1201 00:57:02,714 --> 00:57:05,467 and then we watch the others, and they're takin' a knee. 1202 00:57:05,550 --> 00:57:09,179 Any man that gets on his knee, 1203 00:57:09,220 --> 00:57:12,515 -we know that's an act of love. -(AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) 1204 00:57:12,557 --> 00:57:15,435 NIKKI: We know that. We know that. 1205 00:57:15,518 --> 00:57:16,561 They are on their knee, 1206 00:57:16,644 --> 00:57:18,063 and they're saying to the Constitution, 1207 00:57:18,146 --> 00:57:19,356 "Do you love me?" 1208 00:57:19,397 --> 00:57:20,565 How wonderful 1209 00:57:20,607 --> 00:57:23,360 that they are saying "I love you. 1210 00:57:23,401 --> 00:57:27,197 Now you have to love me back." 1211 00:57:27,238 --> 00:57:28,948 But I think the most important thing 1212 00:57:29,032 --> 00:57:29,908 that we have to do now 1213 00:57:29,991 --> 00:57:32,369 is take the guns away from policemen. 1214 00:57:32,410 --> 00:57:34,829 (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) 1215 00:57:34,913 --> 00:57:36,915 And I know, some of you say "Oh, Nikki, 1216 00:57:36,998 --> 00:57:38,750 if we take the guns away from the policemen, 1217 00:57:38,792 --> 00:57:40,001 the policemen will get shot." 1218 00:57:40,085 --> 00:57:43,171 -Well, yes. They will. -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 1219 00:57:43,254 --> 00:57:47,425 -NIKKI: These things happen. -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 1220 00:57:47,509 --> 00:57:50,929 But you can't keep shooting people who are unarmed. 1221 00:57:51,012 --> 00:57:52,180 (CROWD MURMURING) 1222 00:57:52,263 --> 00:57:56,267 NIKKI: Because I'm really sick of people picking on Black men. 1223 00:57:56,351 --> 00:58:00,021 (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) 1224 00:58:00,105 --> 00:58:03,608 In 1983, I wrote you and you wrote me back. 1225 00:58:03,650 --> 00:58:06,778 I was in college ready to quit. 1226 00:58:06,861 --> 00:58:09,280 'Cause it was-- You know, I was on a seven-year plan. 1227 00:58:09,364 --> 00:58:10,740 -So I... (CHUCKLES) -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 1228 00:58:10,782 --> 00:58:13,159 And you said, "Don't give up." 1229 00:58:13,243 --> 00:58:14,619 You told me not to give up. 1230 00:58:14,703 --> 00:58:17,831 I was at Florida A&M. I didn't give up. 1231 00:58:17,914 --> 00:58:21,042 And I'm now a teacher in Newark, New Jersey. 1232 00:58:21,126 --> 00:58:24,254 But I love you. My sister used to read me you. 1233 00:58:24,295 --> 00:58:26,214 -(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) -"Nikki-Rosa." 1234 00:58:26,297 --> 00:58:27,590 I felt you. 1235 00:58:27,632 --> 00:58:30,135 -(NIKKI LAUGHING) -'Cause I know the pains. 1236 00:58:30,176 --> 00:58:33,263 "It's not your father's drinking that makes any difference." 1237 00:58:33,304 --> 00:58:36,683 ♪ (MELLOW JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1238 00:58:37,726 --> 00:58:40,645 (CROWD MURMURING) 1239 00:58:51,698 --> 00:58:53,658 GUEST 1: I loved tonight. It was awesome. 1240 00:58:53,742 --> 00:58:55,368 -Thank you. -GUEST 1: Yes! 1241 00:58:55,452 --> 00:58:57,245 Thank you for being such an inspiration. 1242 00:58:57,328 --> 00:58:58,788 NIKKI: Oh, thank you. 1243 00:58:59,330 --> 00:59:01,458 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 1244 00:59:01,499 --> 00:59:04,169 My daughter's name is Maya Giovanni 1245 00:59:04,252 --> 00:59:05,962 -after you. -(NIKKI LAUGHING) 1246 00:59:07,172 --> 00:59:09,841 -GUEST 2: Thank you so much. -NIKKI: It's my pleasure. 1247 00:59:09,883 --> 00:59:11,092 GUEST 3: Ms. Giovanni, I just wanna say 1248 00:59:11,176 --> 00:59:13,053 -it's an honor meeting you. -It's my pleasure. 1249 00:59:13,136 --> 00:59:15,680 I'm a poet myself. You're an inspiration to me. 1250 00:59:15,722 --> 00:59:17,265 I saw you, like, on Def Jam Poetry. 1251 00:59:17,349 --> 00:59:20,518 GUEST 4: Now, I'm saying this, and I have to get my phone out. 1252 00:59:20,602 --> 00:59:22,228 -(LAUGHS) -GUEST 5: Thank you so much. 1253 00:59:22,312 --> 00:59:25,690 I just wanna let you know that your unapologetic spirit 1254 00:59:25,774 --> 00:59:28,276 is what inspired me to do my PhD. 1255 00:59:28,360 --> 00:59:30,904 GUEST 6: Aw, thank you so much. 1256 00:59:30,987 --> 00:59:33,740 GUEST 7: I've been following you a long time. I love you. 1257 00:59:33,823 --> 00:59:36,201 -(INDISTINCT CHATTER) -NIKKI: Well, thank you. 1258 00:59:36,284 --> 00:59:39,371 (RAIN PATTERING) 1259 00:59:39,412 --> 00:59:41,706 ♪ (MELLOW JAZZ MUSIC FADES) ♪ 1260 00:59:45,543 --> 00:59:49,756 ♪ (PENSIVE DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1261 00:59:49,839 --> 00:59:52,717 NIKKI: (ECHOING) "I used to dream militant dreams 1262 00:59:52,801 --> 00:59:55,220 of taking over America 1263 00:59:55,261 --> 00:59:57,389 to show these White folks how it should be done. 1264 00:59:57,430 --> 01:00:01,518 I used to dream radical dreams of blowing everyone away 1265 01:00:01,601 --> 01:00:05,105 with my perceptive powers of correct analysis. 1266 01:00:05,188 --> 01:00:09,401 I even used to think I'd be the one to stop the riot 1267 01:00:09,484 --> 01:00:11,319 and negotiate the peace." 1268 01:00:13,488 --> 01:00:17,701 ♪ (PENSIVE DREAMY MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪ 1269 01:00:19,869 --> 01:00:21,705 TOURÉ: In the evolution of your career, 1270 01:00:21,746 --> 01:00:23,289 there's an irony that as you became 1271 01:00:23,373 --> 01:00:26,376 more radicalized, you work became more popular. 1272 01:00:26,418 --> 01:00:29,546 -Do you agree? -NIKKI: No. 1273 01:00:29,587 --> 01:00:31,631 INTERVIEWER: There is some really strong 1274 01:00:31,715 --> 01:00:34,134 revolutionary poetry such as, "Can You Kill." 1275 01:00:34,217 --> 01:00:36,094 -What has changed? -NIKKI: I've gotten older. 1276 01:00:36,136 --> 01:00:37,846 -INTERVIEWER: Have you? -NIKKI: Sure. (CHUCKLES) 1277 01:00:37,929 --> 01:00:39,139 -INTERVIEWER: You-- -NIKKI: Haven't we all? 1278 01:00:39,222 --> 01:00:40,682 INTERVIEWER: You see, you have a poem that begins 1279 01:00:40,765 --> 01:00:42,308 "I used to dream militant dreams." 1280 01:00:42,392 --> 01:00:43,435 NIKKI: Yeah, "of taking over." 1281 01:00:43,518 --> 01:00:44,978 INTERVIEWER: But you don't anymore? 1282 01:00:45,061 --> 01:00:46,354 NIKKI: The poem ends though, 1283 01:00:46,438 --> 01:00:49,357 "I awoke, and that if I dream natural dreams..." 1284 01:00:49,441 --> 01:00:51,776 ...of being a natural woman, 1285 01:00:51,818 --> 01:00:54,988 doing what a woman does when she is natural, 1286 01:00:55,071 --> 01:00:59,117 -I would have a revolution." -(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) 1287 01:01:14,132 --> 01:01:16,343 INTERVIEWER: There are people who express some disappointment 1288 01:01:16,426 --> 01:01:18,345 that you've changed. How do you react to that? 1289 01:01:18,428 --> 01:01:19,346 NIKKI: I'm real sorry, 1290 01:01:19,429 --> 01:01:21,598 but I think that my responsibility in my life 1291 01:01:21,639 --> 01:01:22,891 is to grow. 1292 01:01:26,436 --> 01:01:31,524 (CHANTING IN SOUTH AFRICAN LANGUAGE) 1293 01:01:31,608 --> 01:01:34,861 ♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1294 01:01:37,072 --> 01:01:39,157 (FIRE CRACKLING) 1295 01:01:39,240 --> 01:01:40,992 (PROTESTERS CLAMORING) 1296 01:01:41,034 --> 01:01:42,410 TV REPORTER 1: (IN ENGLISH) In Washington today, 1297 01:01:42,494 --> 01:01:44,871 Jesse Jackson joined the list of prominent Americans arrested 1298 01:01:44,954 --> 01:01:46,956 in anti-apartheid protests. 1299 01:01:46,998 --> 01:01:48,500 -(GUNSHOT) -(PROTESTERS SCREAMING) 1300 01:01:48,541 --> 01:01:50,877 TV REPORTER 2: Harry Belafonte, Senator Lowell Weicker, 1301 01:01:50,960 --> 01:01:52,837 and Gloria Steinem have something in common. 1302 01:01:52,879 --> 01:01:54,881 They are but a few of the hundreds of Americans 1303 01:01:54,964 --> 01:01:56,841 who have been arrested for demonstrating 1304 01:01:56,883 --> 01:01:58,343 against South African apartheid. 1305 01:02:00,970 --> 01:02:04,224 TV REPORTER 3: Nikki Giovanni is strongly opposed to apartheid 1306 01:02:04,307 --> 01:02:07,018 but scornful of the demonstrations. 1307 01:02:07,060 --> 01:02:09,979 NIKKI: I think it's really cheap that you go over there at 4:15. 1308 01:02:10,021 --> 01:02:11,856 You're arrested by quarter to five. 1309 01:02:11,898 --> 01:02:13,817 You're taken down to the police station. 1310 01:02:13,858 --> 01:02:15,860 You're booked maybe 5:30. 1311 01:02:15,902 --> 01:02:18,196 You're home in time for The Joker's Wild. 1312 01:02:18,238 --> 01:02:20,490 You haven't even missed your favorite TV show. 1313 01:02:21,991 --> 01:02:24,911 HARRY BELAFONTE: Our protests and the protests of so many 1314 01:02:24,994 --> 01:02:27,163 that represents the leadership voice in this country 1315 01:02:27,205 --> 01:02:29,708 and who have come down to Washington to demonstrate, 1316 01:02:29,749 --> 01:02:31,209 to lend themselves to being arrested. 1317 01:02:31,292 --> 01:02:34,379 I've done a lot to bring Africa, South Africa particularly, 1318 01:02:34,421 --> 01:02:36,548 to the consciousness to the American people. 1319 01:02:37,882 --> 01:02:41,011 NIKKI: This is a movement right now at the top. 1320 01:02:41,052 --> 01:02:43,430 There is no bottom movement at all. 1321 01:02:43,513 --> 01:02:44,931 This is all head, no body. 1322 01:02:45,015 --> 01:02:47,100 You've got traditional Black leadership group, 1323 01:02:47,183 --> 01:02:50,103 you've got celebrity-type names. 1324 01:02:50,186 --> 01:02:53,064 ♪ (TENSE MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪ 1325 01:03:04,284 --> 01:03:06,161 I just don't see no little old church ladies, 1326 01:03:06,244 --> 01:03:07,746 I don't see the buses rolling up. 1327 01:03:07,829 --> 01:03:10,540 I don't see the community organizing. 1328 01:03:20,425 --> 01:03:23,094 ♪ (MUSIC TURNS PENSIVE) ♪ 1329 01:03:39,444 --> 01:03:41,404 (WHIRRING) 1330 01:04:02,175 --> 01:04:05,011 NARRATOR: (AS NIKKI) "Maybe you are crushed against the wall. 1331 01:04:05,804 --> 01:04:07,555 But still I do know this. 1332 01:04:08,807 --> 01:04:10,934 You have to know who you are. 1333 01:04:11,810 --> 01:04:13,603 And you can't give up on that. 1334 01:04:17,023 --> 01:04:20,318 Or you will become what you don't want to be." 1335 01:04:21,820 --> 01:04:24,364 (RAIN PATTERING) 1336 01:04:24,989 --> 01:04:28,326 (ERRATIC RHYTHMIC TICKING) 1337 01:04:28,368 --> 01:04:30,912 NIKKI: My father was a fool, by the way. 1338 01:04:30,995 --> 01:04:33,331 -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) -Which-- He was. 1339 01:04:33,373 --> 01:04:36,334 Another reason that I know I'm not going to heaven. 1340 01:04:37,293 --> 01:04:39,004 And I'm gonna end up in hell with Gus, 1341 01:04:39,087 --> 01:04:40,213 'cause we have some things to discuss. 1342 01:04:40,296 --> 01:04:43,174 -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) -(NIKKI LAUGHING) 1343 01:04:43,216 --> 01:04:46,094 But one day the phone rang and it was Mommy. 1344 01:04:46,177 --> 01:04:49,597 And she said, "You know, Nikki. Your father's in a hospital." 1345 01:04:49,681 --> 01:04:52,517 And I knew that the next thing I had to do was to be home. 1346 01:04:52,559 --> 01:04:55,020 So I bought Mommy a house. I said we're moving. 1347 01:04:55,061 --> 01:04:57,647 And so we moved, and now we're in my house. 1348 01:04:57,689 --> 01:04:59,607 So Gus and I were having an argument. 1349 01:04:59,649 --> 01:05:01,026 He got upset and he's gonna get up 1350 01:05:01,067 --> 01:05:02,527 and I said, "Gus, 1351 01:05:02,610 --> 01:05:05,864 the floor that you're gettin' up on is my floor. 1352 01:05:05,905 --> 01:05:09,075 The chair you're leaning on is my chair." 1353 01:05:09,159 --> 01:05:10,994 And so, now he's gettin' ready to go to his bedroom 1354 01:05:11,036 --> 01:05:12,287 'cause he's angry with me. 1355 01:05:12,370 --> 01:05:16,499 And I said, "The bedroom you're going in is my bedroom. 1356 01:05:16,541 --> 01:05:20,670 The mattress you're gonna stretch out on is my mattress." 1357 01:05:20,712 --> 01:05:22,547 So now we have a conversation. 1358 01:05:22,589 --> 01:05:24,591 And I said, "Lemme tell you what's gonna happen 1359 01:05:24,674 --> 01:05:26,051 for the rest of your life. 1360 01:05:26,092 --> 01:05:28,720 You're gonna wake up in the morning 1361 01:05:28,803 --> 01:05:30,138 and you're gonna smile at this woman 1362 01:05:30,221 --> 01:05:32,057 who put up with you all of these years, 1363 01:05:32,098 --> 01:05:34,059 and you're gonna tell her how happy you were 1364 01:05:34,100 --> 01:05:35,769 that she put up with you, 1365 01:05:35,852 --> 01:05:36,936 how much you love her 1366 01:05:37,020 --> 01:05:38,271 and all that she's done for you." 1367 01:05:38,355 --> 01:05:40,190 I said, "Do you understand me? 1368 01:05:40,231 --> 01:05:43,068 You will smile and tell your wife every morning 1369 01:05:43,151 --> 01:05:45,403 you love her. Should you fail to do that, 1370 01:05:45,487 --> 01:05:48,073 I'm gonna have you put away. Do you understand me?" 1371 01:05:48,114 --> 01:05:50,575 -So-- -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 1372 01:05:50,617 --> 01:05:52,911 -NIKKI: He knew I would too. -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 1373 01:05:52,994 --> 01:05:54,454 Ultimately, though, of course, he died. 1374 01:05:54,537 --> 01:05:56,331 And when he did, you knew he was gonna die. 1375 01:05:56,414 --> 01:05:58,083 So when he died, you know, we buried him. 1376 01:05:58,124 --> 01:06:00,585 -And I was talking to-- -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 1377 01:06:00,627 --> 01:06:02,253 Well, I could've thrown him in the backyard 1378 01:06:02,337 --> 01:06:03,713 and let the dogs eat him, but... 1379 01:06:03,755 --> 01:06:05,715 (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 1380 01:06:05,757 --> 01:06:07,967 ♪ (GENTLE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1381 01:06:08,051 --> 01:06:10,387 (BIRDS CHIRPING) 1382 01:06:14,933 --> 01:06:17,435 (LEAVES RUSTLING) 1383 01:06:21,606 --> 01:06:23,942 NARRATOR: (AS NIKKI) "Sometimes we share a poem 1384 01:06:24,025 --> 01:06:26,903 because people are near, 1385 01:06:26,945 --> 01:06:30,198 and they would notice me noticing you. 1386 01:06:30,281 --> 01:06:34,744 So I write X and you write O and we both win. 1387 01:06:36,162 --> 01:06:42,335 But always we share a poem because belief predates action. 1388 01:06:42,419 --> 01:06:46,506 And I believe the most beautiful poem ever heard 1389 01:06:47,424 --> 01:06:49,050 is your heart... 1390 01:06:49,759 --> 01:06:51,094 racing." 1391 01:06:59,978 --> 01:07:01,146 GINNEY: I recruited Nikki 1392 01:07:01,187 --> 01:07:03,356 to this position here at Tech. 1393 01:07:03,440 --> 01:07:05,442 We had a program and I thought 1394 01:07:06,192 --> 01:07:08,611 she would be great with students. 1395 01:07:08,653 --> 01:07:11,156 So we put together a nomination package 1396 01:07:11,239 --> 01:07:13,950 and surprise, surprise, she accepted 1397 01:07:13,992 --> 01:07:16,494 and came here in '87. 1398 01:07:17,120 --> 01:07:19,122 I became interested 1399 01:07:19,164 --> 01:07:22,500 in the academic opposition to Nikki. 1400 01:07:22,584 --> 01:07:24,502 They didn't wanna give her tenure. 1401 01:07:24,586 --> 01:07:26,087 Part of what they had against her 1402 01:07:26,171 --> 01:07:28,423 is that she was a popular poet. 1403 01:07:29,007 --> 01:07:31,176 And popularity doesn't... 1404 01:07:31,259 --> 01:07:33,678 usually sit well with academics. 1405 01:07:34,971 --> 01:07:36,890 STUDENT: "Spring gave away to these hot days, 1406 01:07:36,973 --> 01:07:38,808 before they fell into the school bell ringing 1407 01:07:38,850 --> 01:07:40,268 and snowflakes falling. 1408 01:07:40,352 --> 01:07:43,772 I'm sure they'd cash today in to be those girls again, 1409 01:07:43,855 --> 01:07:45,190 to drive a Power Wheel outside 1410 01:07:45,273 --> 01:07:47,192 and be home when the streetlight came on." 1411 01:07:48,234 --> 01:07:49,819 I think it's one of your best pieces. 1412 01:07:49,861 --> 01:07:51,696 Thank you. I wrote it on the Megabus 1413 01:07:51,738 --> 01:07:53,031 back home to see my family. 1414 01:07:53,073 --> 01:07:54,866 -(GIGGLES) -(LAUGHS) 1415 01:07:54,908 --> 01:07:56,201 And buses are to be recom-- 1416 01:07:56,242 --> 01:07:58,536 I really-- Don't you think it's one of her best pieces? 1417 01:07:59,996 --> 01:08:01,289 I think that we as writers, 1418 01:08:01,373 --> 01:08:04,334 as we are sharing the things that are essential, 1419 01:08:04,376 --> 01:08:07,337 that are important to us, that are important to our... 1420 01:08:07,379 --> 01:08:10,757 to our hearts, that we want to share, 1421 01:08:10,840 --> 01:08:12,092 then we share that. 1422 01:08:12,175 --> 01:08:14,552 And if somebody learns something from it, we're happy. 1423 01:08:14,636 --> 01:08:16,388 And somebody comes up to us, you know, 1424 01:08:16,429 --> 01:08:18,765 in 20 years and says, "Oh, I read your poem, 1425 01:08:18,848 --> 01:08:21,475 you know, when I was 17, and it meant so much to me." 1426 01:08:22,102 --> 01:08:23,645 You couldn't be happier. 1427 01:08:23,728 --> 01:08:27,148 But you didn't write that poem to instruct them. 1428 01:08:27,232 --> 01:08:29,274 You wrote that poem... 1429 01:08:29,359 --> 01:08:32,569 because you had something on your mind or on your heart 1430 01:08:32,612 --> 01:08:34,029 and you shared it. 1431 01:08:34,072 --> 01:08:36,366 So it's not that we use our talent 1432 01:08:36,408 --> 01:08:38,076 to tell people what to do, 1433 01:08:38,158 --> 01:08:40,662 it's that we use our vulnerability to share... 1434 01:08:41,621 --> 01:08:43,915 the love in our hearts, don't you think? 1435 01:08:45,082 --> 01:08:47,419 I really do. I really do. 1436 01:08:47,502 --> 01:08:50,714 ♪ (PENSIVE DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1437 01:08:56,803 --> 01:09:00,348 NIKKI: I know that you can be with a lot of people. 1438 01:09:00,432 --> 01:09:02,934 And there's still, there's just part of you 1439 01:09:02,975 --> 01:09:05,437 that belongs to you. 1440 01:09:07,022 --> 01:09:08,857 Especially artists. 1441 01:09:10,066 --> 01:09:12,694 Because this is how you get your art done. 1442 01:09:14,069 --> 01:09:15,613 This is the price you pay. 1443 01:09:18,283 --> 01:09:19,951 I'm fortunate because I'm a poet, 1444 01:09:20,035 --> 01:09:21,618 and poets are allowed to be hopeful. 1445 01:09:21,703 --> 01:09:23,580 We are allowed to speak to the human condition 1446 01:09:23,621 --> 01:09:26,291 and we're allowed to remind people 1447 01:09:26,374 --> 01:09:28,667 that the only worthwhile endeavor 1448 01:09:28,752 --> 01:09:30,211 is another human being. 1449 01:09:33,590 --> 01:09:36,426 And we have the ability to contemplate the future 1450 01:09:36,468 --> 01:09:38,511 and to look back into the past. 1451 01:09:39,386 --> 01:09:41,055 Somebody has to think the thought 1452 01:09:41,139 --> 01:09:42,515 that has not yet been thought. 1453 01:09:42,599 --> 01:09:45,810 ♪ (PENSIVE DREAMY MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪ 1454 01:09:45,852 --> 01:09:47,395 NIKKI: You have children 1455 01:09:47,479 --> 01:09:51,107 basically so that you can start somebody off where you finished. 1456 01:09:51,149 --> 01:09:52,484 -You see what I'm saying? -INTERVIEWER: Yes. 1457 01:09:52,524 --> 01:09:53,859 So whether it's our literary children, 1458 01:09:53,943 --> 01:09:56,154 or our physical children, or our emotional children, 1459 01:09:56,237 --> 01:09:57,530 I want somebody to be able to say, 1460 01:09:57,614 --> 01:09:59,115 "Okay now, since Nikki learned that, 1461 01:09:59,157 --> 01:10:00,158 I can go forward." 1462 01:10:00,200 --> 01:10:02,202 Not to have to repeat what I did. 1463 01:10:02,285 --> 01:10:03,328 There's no point in me 1464 01:10:03,370 --> 01:10:04,662 having trod the path that I trod 1465 01:10:04,746 --> 01:10:06,998 if nobody else is gonna be able to go further. 1466 01:10:15,674 --> 01:10:17,717 ♪ (PENSIVE DREAMY MUSIC FADES) ♪ 1467 01:10:17,801 --> 01:10:19,469 NIKKI: Lately, I've been trying to think 1468 01:10:19,511 --> 01:10:21,763 I wonder what kind of slave I would have been. 1469 01:10:21,846 --> 01:10:24,349 (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 1470 01:10:24,391 --> 01:10:26,434 Or those of us who are White, don't you wonder, 1471 01:10:26,518 --> 01:10:28,937 "What kind of slave owner would I have been? 1472 01:10:29,020 --> 01:10:30,355 Don't you? 1473 01:10:31,272 --> 01:10:33,608 You too are a part of segregation. 1474 01:10:33,692 --> 01:10:35,694 You too are a part of slavery. 1475 01:10:35,735 --> 01:10:37,570 And we wanna know... 1476 01:10:37,654 --> 01:10:40,323 what were you thinking? What were you hoping? 1477 01:10:40,365 --> 01:10:42,742 Because it's not fair to act like slavery 1478 01:10:42,826 --> 01:10:45,161 and Blackness is just us. 1479 01:10:45,203 --> 01:10:46,996 It's you too. 1480 01:10:47,038 --> 01:10:48,915 Some of it might be embarrassing. 1481 01:10:48,998 --> 01:10:51,835 But you have a story to tell because it's a part 1482 01:10:51,876 --> 01:10:54,087 of the American story. 1483 01:10:54,170 --> 01:10:58,049 (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) 1484 01:11:00,760 --> 01:11:04,764 I'm 75, which I highly recommend. 1485 01:11:04,848 --> 01:11:07,017 (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 1486 01:11:07,058 --> 01:11:08,560 And I've been having trouble hearing. 1487 01:11:08,601 --> 01:11:10,395 But I'm so proud of my hearing aid. 1488 01:11:10,437 --> 01:11:13,148 So for any of you who have trouble hearing, 1489 01:11:13,231 --> 01:11:14,899 I'm gonna recommend a hearing aid. 1490 01:11:14,983 --> 01:11:16,026 (AUDIENCE CHUCKLING) 1491 01:11:16,067 --> 01:11:17,318 NIKKI: It's not all that expensive. 1492 01:11:17,402 --> 01:11:19,237 And it's amazing because 1493 01:11:19,320 --> 01:11:22,032 if you're hearing goes bad, you know what happens? 1494 01:11:22,073 --> 01:11:23,908 You end up with dementia, 1495 01:11:23,950 --> 01:11:27,245 because a part of your brain goes to sleep. 1496 01:11:27,287 --> 01:11:28,413 And you can't, you know-- 1497 01:11:28,455 --> 01:11:29,831 And then you become unpleasant to be around. 1498 01:11:29,914 --> 01:11:31,916 'Cause they're like, "Oh, I don't like to be around Grandpa, 1499 01:11:32,000 --> 01:11:33,209 because he keeps saying 'What?'" 1500 01:11:33,251 --> 01:11:34,878 Well, a little hearing aid. 1501 01:11:34,919 --> 01:11:36,338 -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) -See? 1502 01:11:36,421 --> 01:11:38,798 -It looks great, doesn't it? -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 1503 01:11:38,882 --> 01:11:41,926 It does. And so I'm always either adding things. 1504 01:11:41,968 --> 01:11:42,761 I had breast cancer 1505 01:11:42,844 --> 01:11:44,929 and my doctor, my surgeon actually, 1506 01:11:44,971 --> 01:11:47,557 she said, "Well, we can take it out and you can have--" 1507 01:11:47,599 --> 01:11:49,768 you know, what is that thing, chemotherapy and stuff-- 1508 01:11:49,851 --> 01:11:51,478 "Or I can just take the tit out." 1509 01:11:51,561 --> 01:11:54,439 Well, I was 74 years old. What else am I gonna do with it? 1510 01:11:54,522 --> 01:11:57,067 (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 1511 01:11:57,108 --> 01:11:58,693 (CHUCKLES) I've had it for ye-- 1512 01:11:58,777 --> 01:12:00,528 It has done all that it's gonna do. 1513 01:12:00,612 --> 01:12:02,238 -So-- (CHUCKLES) -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 1514 01:12:02,280 --> 01:12:03,656 It was like, "Yeah, take it off, 1515 01:12:03,740 --> 01:12:05,116 you know, let's get rid of that." 1516 01:12:05,200 --> 01:12:06,326 So the tit's gone. 1517 01:12:06,409 --> 01:12:08,953 So I took a tit off and I added an ear. So... 1518 01:12:08,995 --> 01:12:10,955 (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 1519 01:12:13,667 --> 01:12:17,629 There had to be some kind of balance going on there. 1520 01:12:17,712 --> 01:12:21,216 ♪ (MELLOW JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1521 01:12:21,299 --> 01:12:24,761 (GRASS RUSTLING) 1522 01:12:27,472 --> 01:12:29,974 (TRICKLING) 1523 01:12:33,728 --> 01:12:35,355 NIKKI: "I always liked house cleaning. 1524 01:12:35,438 --> 01:12:37,857 Even as a child, I dug straightening the cabinets, 1525 01:12:37,941 --> 01:12:39,651 putting new paper on the shelves, 1526 01:12:39,693 --> 01:12:42,320 washing the refrigerator inside out, 1527 01:12:42,362 --> 01:12:43,655 and unfortunately, 1528 01:12:43,738 --> 01:12:45,949 this habit has carried over to you. 1529 01:12:45,990 --> 01:12:49,119 And I find I must remove you from my life." 1530 01:12:49,160 --> 01:12:51,538 (AUDIENCE CHEERING, APPLAUDING) 1531 01:12:52,789 --> 01:12:54,833 ♪ (MELLOW GROOVY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1532 01:12:54,916 --> 01:12:56,501 "A fool who grins 1533 01:12:56,584 --> 01:13:00,672 at a face in the mirror and tells herself it's pretty. 1534 01:13:00,714 --> 01:13:04,676 A sentimental woman who pressed his shirts 1535 01:13:04,759 --> 01:13:07,470 and washed his dirty underwear, 1536 01:13:07,512 --> 01:13:11,599 who rubbed his back with alcohol at night. 1537 01:13:11,683 --> 01:13:16,438 I wonder why my insides don't match my outside anymore, 1538 01:13:17,355 --> 01:13:19,149 mumbling to the mirror... 1539 01:13:20,442 --> 01:13:22,027 turn off that light." 1540 01:13:22,861 --> 01:13:26,531 (AUDIENCE CHATTERING, APPLAUDING) 1541 01:13:29,451 --> 01:13:31,369 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 1542 01:13:31,411 --> 01:13:32,871 GINNEY: A sight for sore eyes. 1543 01:13:32,954 --> 01:13:36,249 -NOVELLA NELSON: Both of you. -NIKKI: You're looking good. 1544 01:13:36,332 --> 01:13:37,542 Y'all didn't have to do that. 1545 01:13:37,625 --> 01:13:39,878 -Thank you so much. -GINNEY: Oh, you're welcome. 1546 01:13:39,919 --> 01:13:41,504 NIKKI: Oh, that's great, Novella. 1547 01:13:41,546 --> 01:13:43,548 -Yeah, I love it too. -(NIKKI LAUGHING) 1548 01:13:43,631 --> 01:13:45,550 Oh, there they are. 1549 01:13:45,633 --> 01:13:48,219 What happened to me? What's the word I'm looking for? 1550 01:13:48,261 --> 01:13:49,471 CAREGIVER: What do you mean? 1551 01:13:49,554 --> 01:13:51,681 When I went out and suddenly I don't know where I am, 1552 01:13:51,723 --> 01:13:53,975 -and they int-- -Intubate you? 1553 01:13:54,017 --> 01:13:54,893 NOVELLA: Yeah, what's that? 1554 01:13:54,934 --> 01:13:56,436 Yeah, that's from respiratory failure. 1555 01:13:56,519 --> 01:13:57,896 You're not getting enough oxygen. 1556 01:13:57,937 --> 01:13:59,981 GINNEY: You blackout when you don't-- 1557 01:14:00,065 --> 01:14:01,066 I blackout, exactly! 1558 01:14:01,107 --> 01:14:03,777 That's happened to me about four or five times. 1559 01:14:03,860 --> 01:14:05,987 -NIKKI: Mm-hmm. -And, um... 1560 01:14:07,405 --> 01:14:10,742 And like you, then when I... when I wake up, 1561 01:14:10,784 --> 01:14:14,412 a part of who I am, I forget. 1562 01:14:14,454 --> 01:14:16,456 And then all of a sudden I'll remember it. 1563 01:14:16,539 --> 01:14:18,917 But it comes, it shoots out in-- 1564 01:14:18,958 --> 01:14:20,669 -NIKKI: Right. -Do you know what I am saying? 1565 01:14:20,752 --> 01:14:22,879 -I do. (LAUGHS) -NOVELLA: I know you do. 1566 01:14:22,921 --> 01:14:25,173 NOVELLA: (STAMMERS) You know? 1567 01:14:25,256 --> 01:14:27,634 CAREGIVER: Sorry, I'm just gonna do the orange juice, coffee, 1568 01:14:27,717 --> 01:14:29,469 -tea, champagne. -Champagne. 1569 01:14:29,552 --> 01:14:30,595 CAREGIVER: Straight to the champagne? 1570 01:14:30,637 --> 01:14:31,846 -Yes. -Yeah, champagne. 1571 01:14:31,930 --> 01:14:33,765 -CAREGIVER: Okay, all right. -I get a glass a day. 1572 01:14:33,807 --> 01:14:36,184 CAREGIVER: Okay, there's also mineral water there. 1573 01:14:37,644 --> 01:14:40,105 NOVELLA: My most favorite cousin passed away. 1574 01:14:40,188 --> 01:14:41,690 -GINNEY: Aw. -And-- 1575 01:14:41,773 --> 01:14:44,317 I had spoken to her the day before, 1576 01:14:44,401 --> 01:14:46,653 and she had said to come and get her, 1577 01:14:47,529 --> 01:14:48,822 and I couldn't. 1578 01:14:49,656 --> 01:14:51,783 Then we talked, I calmed her down. 1579 01:14:51,866 --> 01:14:54,285 And the next day, her daughter calls me up and tells me 1580 01:14:54,369 --> 01:14:55,787 she was dead. You know, it was-- 1581 01:14:55,829 --> 01:14:57,706 I think you reached out to your cousin. 1582 01:14:57,789 --> 01:15:00,458 -I mean, she got from you-- -GINNEY: What she needed. 1583 01:15:00,500 --> 01:15:02,502 What she needed, so that she could relax, 1584 01:15:02,585 --> 01:15:04,879 and so she could go to her next... 1585 01:15:04,963 --> 01:15:06,214 her next step. 1586 01:15:06,297 --> 01:15:07,799 GINNEY: Mm-hmm. 1587 01:15:08,591 --> 01:15:10,135 I hadn't thought about it like that. 1588 01:15:10,218 --> 01:15:11,219 That really helped. 1589 01:15:11,302 --> 01:15:13,555 -NIKKI: Yeah, thank you too. -Thank you for that one. 1590 01:15:13,638 --> 01:15:15,932 'Cause it really, uh... 1591 01:15:15,974 --> 01:15:19,269 -(CLICKS TONGUE) Ooh! -NIKKI: Mm-hmm. 1592 01:15:21,980 --> 01:15:23,314 NOVELLA: These rings are beautiful. 1593 01:15:23,398 --> 01:15:24,899 -GINNEY: Oh, you like these? -NOVELLA: These are beautiful. 1594 01:15:24,983 --> 01:15:26,317 -NIKKI: Thank you. -NOVELLA: Yeah, yeah. 1595 01:15:26,359 --> 01:15:28,028 -I noticed them. Beautiful. -GINNEY: You wanna look at it 1596 01:15:28,111 --> 01:15:29,571 -up-close and personal? -NOVELLA: Oh, thank you! 1597 01:15:29,654 --> 01:15:30,947 (CHUCKLES) Oh, God! 1598 01:15:30,989 --> 01:15:32,824 -NIKKI: Yeah. -NOVELLA: Have to put it on. 1599 01:15:33,158 --> 01:15:34,659 Really nice. 1600 01:15:34,743 --> 01:15:35,952 NIKKI: Ginney designed it. 1601 01:15:35,994 --> 01:15:38,496 -NOVELLA: You did? -GINNEY: Well, not really. 1602 01:15:38,580 --> 01:15:39,706 -NIKKI: Yeah. -GINNEY: Yeah. 1603 01:15:39,789 --> 01:15:41,166 NOVELLA: Really lovely. 1604 01:15:42,250 --> 01:15:45,211 -Nice weight to it too. -GINNEY: It does, yeah. 1605 01:15:45,295 --> 01:15:46,921 NOVELLA: Very nice. 1606 01:15:47,005 --> 01:15:50,717 ♪ (SOFT PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1607 01:15:54,262 --> 01:15:55,305 Bye-bye. 1608 01:16:10,111 --> 01:16:14,657 ♪ (UPBEAT GOSPEL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1609 01:16:14,699 --> 01:16:17,744 -♪ Let's go higher ♪ -♪ Let's go higher ♪ 1610 01:16:17,827 --> 01:16:20,121 -♪ Higher ♪ -♪ Higher ♪ 1611 01:16:20,205 --> 01:16:22,874 -♪ Let's go higher ♪ -♪ Let's go higher ♪ 1612 01:16:22,916 --> 01:16:27,587 -♪ Higher in my Lord ♪ -♪ Let's go higher ♪ 1613 01:16:27,671 --> 01:16:30,298 -♪ Let's go higher ♪ -♪ Higher ♪ 1614 01:16:30,382 --> 01:16:31,716 ♪ Higher ♪ 1615 01:16:31,800 --> 01:16:34,052 -♪ Higher ♪ -♪ Let's go higher ♪ 1616 01:16:34,094 --> 01:16:37,097 -♪ Higher ♪ -♪ Higher... ♪ 1617 01:16:37,180 --> 01:16:39,641 NIKKI: It's hard to figure out Black people. 1618 01:16:39,724 --> 01:16:40,975 (LAUGHING) And that's a-- 1619 01:16:41,059 --> 01:16:43,520 No, really, I mean, you know... you know 'cause you... 1620 01:16:43,561 --> 01:16:44,771 -BALDWIN: I know. -It's very hard. 1621 01:16:44,854 --> 01:16:46,731 Because you say, um-- Let's say somebody like you. 1622 01:16:46,815 --> 01:16:48,983 You've been out of the church for a long time, okay? 1623 01:16:49,067 --> 01:16:51,236 I grew up, of course, in a Baptist church, 1624 01:16:51,319 --> 01:16:52,278 and I really dig the church. 1625 01:16:52,362 --> 01:16:54,322 -I think it's a very cool... -BALDWIN: I do too. 1626 01:16:54,406 --> 01:16:56,157 I can't dig the theology, 1627 01:16:56,241 --> 01:16:58,618 but the music and the energies of the church. 1628 01:16:58,702 --> 01:17:00,578 -BALDWIN: Yes. -But then I went to, um... 1629 01:17:00,620 --> 01:17:01,871 The New York Community Choir 1630 01:17:01,913 --> 01:17:04,749 had its anniversary recently, it's first anniversary, 1631 01:17:04,791 --> 01:17:07,127 and I went up to an AME Zion church, 1632 01:17:07,210 --> 01:17:09,921 as a matter of fact. And the lady was singing-- 1633 01:17:09,963 --> 01:17:11,840 Some lady was singing "Yes, Jesus Loves Me." 1634 01:17:11,923 --> 01:17:13,091 And people started shouting. 1635 01:17:13,133 --> 01:17:14,509 -You know what I mean, just... -Yeah, yeah. 1636 01:17:14,592 --> 01:17:15,635 NIKKI: People were shouting. 1637 01:17:15,719 --> 01:17:17,095 And it hit me as I was sitting there. 1638 01:17:17,137 --> 01:17:19,806 My God, as a so-called Black militant, 1639 01:17:19,889 --> 01:17:23,184 I have nothing stronger to offer than Jesus. 1640 01:17:23,268 --> 01:17:25,937 BALDWIN: Yeah, but you see... Yeah, but, yeah-- but, baby-- 1641 01:17:26,021 --> 01:17:27,188 NIKKI: And that was a-- It blew-- 1642 01:17:27,272 --> 01:17:28,898 As a matter of fact, I got up in church and said, 1643 01:17:28,940 --> 01:17:30,025 -"Ain't that a bitch." -(LAUGHS) 1644 01:17:30,108 --> 01:17:32,110 NIKKI: And suddenly I was testifying... 1645 01:17:32,193 --> 01:17:35,780 -It blew my mind! -Baby, what we did with Jesus 1646 01:17:35,822 --> 01:17:38,116 was not supposed to happen. 1647 01:17:38,158 --> 01:17:40,410 -You know, at all. -NIKKI: I could believe that. 1648 01:17:40,452 --> 01:17:42,495 We took him-- We took that cat over. 1649 01:17:42,579 --> 01:17:43,997 -NIKKI: We did. -And made him ours. 1650 01:17:44,080 --> 01:17:47,125 It has nothing whatever to do with that White Jesus 1651 01:17:47,167 --> 01:17:49,919 in Montgomery, Alabama, in that White church. 1652 01:17:49,961 --> 01:17:52,130 We did something else with him. We made him ours. 1653 01:17:53,840 --> 01:17:54,966 CHURCHGOER: Juanita, how are you doing? 1654 01:17:55,050 --> 01:17:56,217 JUANITA: I'm doing fine, and you? 1655 01:17:56,259 --> 01:17:57,844 CHURCHGOER: I'm doing good. 1656 01:18:00,513 --> 01:18:02,974 -NELL: (OVER PHONE) Hello? -NIKKI: Good morning, Jo, it's Nikki. 1657 01:18:03,058 --> 01:18:04,476 NELL: This is Nell. How are you? 1658 01:18:04,517 --> 01:18:05,769 NIKKI: Hi, Nell. 1659 01:18:05,810 --> 01:18:07,729 -NELL: How's everything? -Oh, everything's not good. 1660 01:18:07,812 --> 01:18:10,982 I wanted to tell Joe that Agnes passed this morning. 1661 01:18:11,066 --> 01:18:12,859 -NELL: No! -Yeah, yeah. 1662 01:18:12,942 --> 01:18:14,944 -NELL: How old was she? -Uh, 94-- 1663 01:18:14,986 --> 01:18:16,696 Yeah, she just turned 94. 1664 01:18:16,780 --> 01:18:18,531 -Yeah, yeah. -NELL: Oh, man! 1665 01:18:18,615 --> 01:18:19,949 Now, wait a minute. She was your aunt? 1666 01:18:19,991 --> 01:18:21,451 -NELL: From your mom? -She was my aunt. 1667 01:18:21,493 --> 01:18:23,703 The last of the girls. Uh-huh. 1668 01:18:23,787 --> 01:18:26,122 -NELL: Oh, my God! -Yeah. 1669 01:18:26,164 --> 01:18:27,749 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 1670 01:18:27,832 --> 01:18:30,126 You know all of a sudden, that's what... 1671 01:18:30,168 --> 01:18:31,920 -BYSTANDER: Excuse me. -...bothered me a little bit. 1672 01:18:32,003 --> 01:18:35,006 I mean, it's that I am the oldest in the family now. 1673 01:18:36,383 --> 01:18:39,052 You know all of a sudden I became a senior. (SOBS) 1674 01:18:40,679 --> 01:18:42,847 Not that it means anything, but, you know, 1675 01:18:42,931 --> 01:18:43,890 all of a sudden you realize 1676 01:18:43,973 --> 01:18:46,017 you're the oldest person in the family. 1677 01:18:48,436 --> 01:18:52,023 ♪ (GENTLE PIANO MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1678 01:18:52,107 --> 01:18:54,359 VOCALIST: ♪ I've been through the fire ♪ 1679 01:18:56,277 --> 01:18:59,030 ♪ And I have been Through the flood ♪ 1680 01:19:01,574 --> 01:19:03,785 ♪ Broken in pieces ♪ 1681 01:19:05,620 --> 01:19:08,373 ♪ And left all alone ♪ 1682 01:19:10,458 --> 01:19:13,962 CHOIR: ♪ But through it all God bless me ♪ 1683 01:19:14,045 --> 01:19:15,714 VOCALIST: ♪ And through it all God kept me ♪ 1684 01:19:15,797 --> 01:19:18,425 CHOIR: ♪ And through it all God kept me ♪ 1685 01:19:18,508 --> 01:19:20,385 ♪ Yes, I still ♪ 1686 01:19:20,468 --> 01:19:25,724 ♪ Have a praise inside of me ♪ 1687 01:19:25,807 --> 01:19:28,518 (CHURCHGOER'S APPLAUDING) 1688 01:19:29,853 --> 01:19:32,105 LECTOR: Please stand for reading of the gospel. 1689 01:19:33,565 --> 01:19:36,568 It isn't often that someone will die for a righteous person. 1690 01:19:36,651 --> 01:19:40,071 But maybe someone might dare to die for a good person. 1691 01:19:40,155 --> 01:19:42,365 -(CELL PHONE RINGING) -LECTOR: But God shows his love for us because, 1692 01:19:42,407 --> 01:19:45,744 while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 1693 01:19:45,827 --> 01:19:48,913 So now that we have been made righteous by His blood 1694 01:19:48,955 --> 01:19:51,041 -we can... -Thomas, I'm in church. 1695 01:19:51,082 --> 01:19:52,417 -THOMAS: (OVER PHONE) Okay. -But-- 1696 01:19:52,500 --> 01:19:54,252 -THOMAS: Call me when you get back. -No, no, Agnes died. 1697 01:19:54,336 --> 01:19:56,087 I wanted you to know. I'll call you later. 1698 01:19:56,171 --> 01:19:58,131 -THOMAS: Oh, okay. -Okay, bye-bye. 1699 01:19:58,214 --> 01:20:00,759 LECTOR: ...while we were still enemies. 1700 01:20:00,800 --> 01:20:03,261 Now that we have been reconciled, 1701 01:20:03,345 --> 01:20:06,014 we now have a restored relationship with God. 1702 01:20:06,097 --> 01:20:08,099 -Amen. -CONGREGATION: Amen. 1703 01:20:10,935 --> 01:20:12,937 LECTOR: Let us welcome Nikki Giovanni. 1704 01:20:13,021 --> 01:20:15,982 (CROWD APPLAUDING) 1705 01:20:21,363 --> 01:20:24,616 I want to apologize for my phone ringing. 1706 01:20:24,657 --> 01:20:29,621 My aunt died this morning and I had to start calls. 1707 01:20:30,330 --> 01:20:31,956 We're trying to... 1708 01:20:32,957 --> 01:20:34,292 deal what you have to deal with 1709 01:20:34,334 --> 01:20:36,503 when you have a death in the family. 1710 01:20:36,586 --> 01:20:38,963 I'm now trying to understand 1711 01:20:39,047 --> 01:20:41,257 what my responsibilities are 1712 01:20:41,299 --> 01:20:43,301 and, you know, some of us in this room 1713 01:20:43,343 --> 01:20:45,929 have probably faced that and you're saying, 1714 01:20:45,970 --> 01:20:49,933 "What now... do I do?" 1715 01:20:49,974 --> 01:20:52,435 It's important that you all look ahead, 1716 01:20:52,477 --> 01:20:56,481 because Earth is just about finished, to be honest. 1717 01:20:56,564 --> 01:20:57,482 I think Earth maybe have, 1718 01:20:57,524 --> 01:20:59,150 you know, three or four hundred more years, 1719 01:20:59,192 --> 01:21:01,945 but it's just about finished because we've messed it up. 1720 01:21:01,986 --> 01:21:03,488 And I tease the men all the time, 1721 01:21:03,571 --> 01:21:04,489 and I have to laugh at it. 1722 01:21:04,572 --> 01:21:06,324 'Cause I think that their penis is going out. 1723 01:21:06,366 --> 01:21:08,159 I think it's gonna be extinct very soon. 1724 01:21:08,243 --> 01:21:10,704 -(CONGREGATION LAUGHING) -(NIKKI CHUCKLING) 1725 01:21:10,787 --> 01:21:12,038 I do. 1726 01:21:15,000 --> 01:21:16,918 It's been misused. 1727 01:21:17,002 --> 01:21:19,462 And anything that has been misused 1728 01:21:19,504 --> 01:21:20,839 is gonna be gotten rid of. 1729 01:21:20,922 --> 01:21:23,008 That we... that we know. 1730 01:21:23,842 --> 01:21:25,093 We who are women, 1731 01:21:25,176 --> 01:21:26,845 and I have to say this, we who are women 1732 01:21:26,928 --> 01:21:28,054 have a difficult time, 1733 01:21:28,138 --> 01:21:30,181 because everybody wants to control us, 1734 01:21:30,265 --> 01:21:32,809 everybody wants to say what women should do. 1735 01:21:32,892 --> 01:21:36,438 What you should do is what you think you should do, 1736 01:21:36,521 --> 01:21:38,148 what you need to do. 1737 01:21:38,189 --> 01:21:41,317 And so, we have to not let people 1738 01:21:41,359 --> 01:21:43,945 take away those things that we need, 1739 01:21:44,029 --> 01:21:45,321 those things that we love. 1740 01:21:45,363 --> 01:21:47,657 I am very fortunate, I have a very good friend, 1741 01:21:47,699 --> 01:21:49,075 and I would be lost without her. 1742 01:21:49,159 --> 01:21:50,535 I don't know, what I'd do without Ginney. 1743 01:21:50,577 --> 01:21:53,997 So, I'm very fortunate to have somebody who loves me. 1744 01:21:54,039 --> 01:21:56,374 I don't care what anybody has to say about it. 1745 01:21:56,458 --> 01:21:57,542 I'm not interested. 1746 01:21:57,584 --> 01:22:02,547 And what we have to continue to do is love one another. 1747 01:22:02,589 --> 01:22:05,216 "This is not a poem. 1748 01:22:05,300 --> 01:22:08,136 This is hot chocolate at the beginning of spring, 1749 01:22:08,219 --> 01:22:10,221 topped with hand-whipped double cream, 1750 01:22:10,305 --> 01:22:12,307 a splash of brandy to give it sass, 1751 01:22:12,390 --> 01:22:14,976 and just a little cinnamon to give it class. 1752 01:22:15,060 --> 01:22:17,479 This is not a poem, this is a summer quilt, 1753 01:22:17,562 --> 01:22:20,398 log cabin pattern. See that corner piece? 1754 01:22:20,440 --> 01:22:22,192 That was Grandmother's wedding dress, 1755 01:22:22,233 --> 01:22:24,569 That was Grandpapa’s favorite Sunday tie. 1756 01:22:24,652 --> 01:22:26,071 This is a rocking chair. 1757 01:22:26,112 --> 01:22:28,615 Rock me gently in the bosom of Abraham. 1758 01:22:28,698 --> 01:22:32,494 This is a bus seat. No, I'm not going to move today. 1759 01:22:32,577 --> 01:22:33,953 This is not a poem, no. 1760 01:22:34,037 --> 01:22:36,831 It is a celebration for the road we have traveled, 1761 01:22:36,915 --> 01:22:39,084 it is a prayer for the roads yet to come. 1762 01:22:39,167 --> 01:22:42,128 This is an explosion, the original Big Bang 1763 01:22:42,212 --> 01:22:45,298 that makes the world a hopeful, loving place. 1764 01:22:45,382 --> 01:22:48,677 This is about us celebrating ourselves. 1765 01:22:48,760 --> 01:22:51,096 And a well-deserved honor it is. 1766 01:22:51,137 --> 01:22:54,474 Light the candles, this is a rocket. 1767 01:22:54,557 --> 01:22:55,767 Let's ride." 1768 01:22:55,850 --> 01:22:59,020 (CONGREGATION APPLAUDING) 1769 01:23:02,190 --> 01:23:06,069 ♪ (SERENE DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1770 01:23:06,111 --> 01:23:09,197 -(WAVES CRASHING) -(SEAGULLS SQUAWKING) 1771 01:23:13,952 --> 01:23:15,203 NIKKI: "We're going to Mars, 1772 01:23:15,286 --> 01:23:18,248 for the same reason Marco Polo rocketed to China, 1773 01:23:18,289 --> 01:23:19,916 for the same reason Columbus 1774 01:23:19,958 --> 01:23:22,043 trimmed his sails on the dream of spices. 1775 01:23:22,127 --> 01:23:23,461 For the very same reason 1776 01:23:23,545 --> 01:23:25,505 Shackleton was enchanted with penguins. 1777 01:23:25,588 --> 01:23:29,217 For the reason we fall in love. It's the only adventure. 1778 01:23:33,263 --> 01:23:35,306 We're going to Mars because whatever is wrong with us 1779 01:23:35,348 --> 01:23:36,641 will not get right with us. 1780 01:23:36,683 --> 01:23:39,185 So we journey forth, carrying the same baggage, 1781 01:23:39,269 --> 01:23:40,311 but every now and then, 1782 01:23:40,395 --> 01:23:42,772 leaving one little bitty thing behind." 1783 01:23:42,814 --> 01:23:45,275 (MUFFLED CHATTER) 1784 01:23:45,316 --> 01:23:47,819 NIKKI: "Maybe not whipping Uncle Tom to death. 1785 01:23:47,902 --> 01:23:49,612 Maybe resisting global war. 1786 01:23:49,654 --> 01:23:51,531 One day looking for prejudice to slip, 1787 01:23:51,614 --> 01:23:54,367 one day looking for hatred to tumble by the wayside. 1788 01:23:54,451 --> 01:23:55,994 One day maybe the whole community 1789 01:23:56,036 --> 01:23:57,537 will no longer be vested 1790 01:23:57,620 --> 01:23:58,747 in who sleeps with whom. 1791 01:23:58,830 --> 01:24:01,583 Maybe one day the Jewish community will be at rest, 1792 01:24:01,666 --> 01:24:03,918 the Christian community will be content. 1793 01:24:04,002 --> 01:24:06,296 The Muslim community will be at peace. 1794 01:24:06,338 --> 01:24:09,215 And all the rest of us will get great meals at holy days, 1795 01:24:09,299 --> 01:24:11,801 and learn new songs and sing in harmony." 1796 01:24:17,849 --> 01:24:21,728 (ETHEREAL TINKLING) 1797 01:24:21,811 --> 01:24:24,105 ANNOUNCER 1: And it’s an honor to introduce this woman 1798 01:24:24,189 --> 01:24:26,733 she is the most world-renowned Black poet 1799 01:24:26,816 --> 01:24:28,693 this world has ever seen. 1800 01:24:28,777 --> 01:24:30,195 She's an activist, 1801 01:24:30,236 --> 01:24:32,322 a Grammy-nominated activist. 1802 01:24:32,364 --> 01:24:35,325 -(AUDIENCE CHEERING) -She tells it like it is. 1803 01:24:35,367 --> 01:24:38,370 She's original Black girl magic, motherfuckers. 1804 01:24:38,453 --> 01:24:41,373 There is no you without this goddess. 1805 01:24:41,414 --> 01:24:42,874 ANNOUNCER 2: Give it up for Nikki, 1806 01:24:42,957 --> 01:24:45,418 poet laureate, sister extraordinaire. 1807 01:24:45,502 --> 01:24:46,711 She's gonna lay it on you thick. 1808 01:24:46,795 --> 01:24:50,632 Give her a big warm welcome, Afropunk, put them up! 1809 01:24:50,715 --> 01:24:52,967 (CROWD APPLAUDING) 1810 01:24:53,051 --> 01:24:54,803 We're going to Mars. 1811 01:24:56,096 --> 01:25:00,517 (CROWD CHEERING) 1812 01:25:00,558 --> 01:25:04,771 Because nobody on Earth has any sense enough 1813 01:25:04,854 --> 01:25:08,733 to go to another planet and get along with anybody. 1814 01:25:08,775 --> 01:25:12,737 We have got to send Black women, we've got to ask Black women, 1815 01:25:12,779 --> 01:25:14,406 "Would you mind going up 1816 01:25:14,489 --> 01:25:16,866 and seeing what's up there, what's alive?" 1817 01:25:16,908 --> 01:25:18,368 I'm a fan of Black women, 1818 01:25:18,410 --> 01:25:21,621 because we are the most marvelous people on Earth. 1819 01:25:21,705 --> 01:25:23,498 (CROWD CHEERING) 1820 01:25:23,581 --> 01:25:27,419 ♪ ("EGO TRIPPING" BY NIKKI GIOVANNI PLAYING) ♪ 1821 01:25:29,254 --> 01:25:31,798 ♪ I was born in the Congo ♪ 1822 01:25:36,011 --> 01:25:38,430 ♪ I was born in the Congo ♪ 1823 01:25:38,471 --> 01:25:40,140 ♪ I walked To the Fertile Crescent ♪ 1824 01:25:40,223 --> 01:25:41,975 ♪ And built the Sphinx ♪ 1825 01:25:42,058 --> 01:25:43,935 ♪ I designed a pyramid So tough ♪ 1826 01:25:43,977 --> 01:25:47,105 ♪ That a star that only glows Every one hundred years ♪ 1827 01:25:47,188 --> 01:25:48,690 ♪ Falls into the center ♪ 1828 01:25:48,773 --> 01:25:52,193 ♪ Giving divine, perfect light I am bad ♪ 1829 01:25:52,277 --> 01:25:55,280 ♪ I sat on the throne Drinking nectar with Allah ♪ 1830 01:25:55,321 --> 01:25:57,741 ♪ I got hot And sent an ice age to Europe ♪ 1831 01:25:57,782 --> 01:25:59,075 ♪ To cool my thirst ♪ 1832 01:25:59,117 --> 01:26:01,369 ♪ My oldest daughter Is Nefertiti ♪ 1833 01:26:01,453 --> 01:26:03,121 ♪ The tears From my birth pains ♪ 1834 01:26:03,204 --> 01:26:04,289 ♪ Created the Nile ♪ 1835 01:26:04,330 --> 01:26:06,249 ♪ I am a beautiful woman ♪ 1836 01:26:06,291 --> 01:26:07,667 ♪ I gazed on the forest ♪ 1837 01:26:07,751 --> 01:26:09,544 ♪ And burned out The Sahara Desert ♪ 1838 01:26:09,627 --> 01:26:12,297 ♪ With a packet of goat's meat And a change of clothes ♪ 1839 01:26:12,380 --> 01:26:13,965 ♪ I crossed it in two hours ♪ 1840 01:26:14,007 --> 01:26:15,300 ♪ I am a gazelle ♪ 1841 01:26:15,383 --> 01:26:18,428 ♪ So swift, so swift You can't catch me ♪ 1842 01:26:18,470 --> 01:26:20,764 ♪ For a birthday present When he was three ♪ 1843 01:26:20,805 --> 01:26:23,350 ♪ I gave my son Hannibal An elephant ♪ 1844 01:26:23,433 --> 01:26:25,769 ♪ He gave me Rome For Mother’s Day ♪ 1845 01:26:25,852 --> 01:26:28,146 ♪ My strength flows ever on ♪ 1846 01:26:28,188 --> 01:26:29,939 ♪ My son Noah built new/ark ♪ 1847 01:26:29,981 --> 01:26:31,441 ♪ And I stood Proudly at the helm ♪ 1848 01:26:31,483 --> 01:26:34,319 ♪ As we sailed On a soft summer day ♪ 1849 01:26:34,402 --> 01:26:37,197 ♪ I turned myself into myself And was Jesus ♪ 1850 01:26:37,280 --> 01:26:39,449 ♪ Men intone my loving name ♪ 1851 01:26:39,491 --> 01:26:43,036 ♪ All praises, all praises I am the one who would save ♪ 1852 01:26:43,119 --> 01:26:45,455 ♪ I sowed diamonds In my backyard ♪ 1853 01:26:45,497 --> 01:26:47,415 ♪ My bowels deliver uranium ♪ 1854 01:26:47,499 --> 01:26:49,125 ♪ The filings From my fingernails ♪ 1855 01:26:49,167 --> 01:26:50,752 ♪ Are semi-precious jewels ♪ 1856 01:26:50,835 --> 01:26:52,629 ♪ On a trip north, I caught a cold ♪ 1857 01:26:52,671 --> 01:26:55,465 ♪ And blew my nose Giving oil to the Arab world ♪ 1858 01:26:55,507 --> 01:26:59,511 ♪ I am so hip Even my errors are correct ♪ 1859 01:27:00,887 --> 01:27:02,305 ♪ I sailed west to reach east ♪ 1860 01:27:02,347 --> 01:27:05,016 ♪ And had to round off The earth as I went ♪ 1861 01:27:05,100 --> 01:27:06,559 ♪ The hair from My head thinned ♪ 1862 01:27:06,643 --> 01:27:09,270 ♪ And gold was laid Across three continents ♪ 1863 01:27:09,312 --> 01:27:13,400 ♪ I am so perfect so divine So ethereal, so surreal ♪ 1864 01:27:13,483 --> 01:27:16,736 ♪ I cannot be comprehended Except by my permission ♪ 1865 01:27:16,820 --> 01:27:21,783 ♪ I mean, I can fly Like a bird in the sky ♪ 1866 01:27:27,247 --> 01:27:29,165 ♪ (SONG CONCLUDES) ♪ 1867 01:27:29,207 --> 01:27:32,544 (CROWD CHEERING) 1868 01:27:32,585 --> 01:27:37,298 ♪ (DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1869 01:28:16,087 --> 01:28:18,506 BALDWIN: Let's go back to the kids. 1870 01:28:18,590 --> 01:28:20,967 You talk to those people who can hear you, 1871 01:28:21,051 --> 01:28:22,927 and you save what you can save. 1872 01:28:22,969 --> 01:28:25,430 You know, what you have to do 1873 01:28:25,472 --> 01:28:27,515 is make it possible for others to live. 1874 01:28:27,599 --> 01:28:29,142 -NIKKI: Mm-hmm. -You know. 1875 01:28:29,225 --> 01:28:31,311 That's the only reason to be here. 1876 01:28:31,394 --> 01:28:34,439 You know, who needs the rest of it, really! 1877 01:28:34,481 --> 01:28:37,359 Would you say that, like, you tend to be optimistic? 1878 01:28:38,193 --> 01:28:40,153 You know, on those kinda levels? 1879 01:28:40,236 --> 01:28:42,781 When I pick a kid up in my arms, yes. 1880 01:28:42,822 --> 01:28:44,282 I look at you, yes! 1881 01:28:44,366 --> 01:28:45,992 -You know. -NIKKI: Not me! (LAUGHS) 1882 01:28:46,076 --> 01:28:48,036 -Yes. When I look at-- -NIKKI: I'm very pessimistic. 1883 01:28:48,119 --> 01:28:49,954 Oh, no! You're not as pessimist as you think you are. 1884 01:28:50,038 --> 01:28:52,957 -NIKKI: I'm not pessimistic... -You got far too much energy 1885 01:28:52,999 --> 01:28:54,751 to be as pessimistic as you think you are. 1886 01:28:54,793 --> 01:28:56,127 NIKKI: I'm pretty pessimistic, though. 1887 01:28:56,169 --> 01:28:57,295 No, I think you're pretty realistic. 1888 01:28:57,337 --> 01:28:58,630 I think you're pretty cool. 1889 01:28:58,713 --> 01:29:01,383 But there has to be a way to do what we do and survive. 1890 01:29:01,466 --> 01:29:03,551 Which is, to me, what seems to be missing. 1891 01:29:03,635 --> 01:29:06,346 Sweetheart. Sweetheart. 1892 01:29:06,429 --> 01:29:08,723 Our ancestors taught us how to do that. 1893 01:29:08,807 --> 01:29:12,644 ♪ (THRILLING DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1894 01:29:18,358 --> 01:29:20,068 NIKKI: "The captain knew they were in trouble 1895 01:29:20,151 --> 01:29:23,488 in an unknown place, without communicable abilities, 1896 01:29:23,530 --> 01:29:25,865 with a violent and capricious species. 1897 01:29:25,949 --> 01:29:28,660 But they could look out and still see signs of home, 1898 01:29:28,743 --> 01:29:31,830 they could still smell the sweetness in the air. 1899 01:29:31,913 --> 01:29:34,124 But there reached a point where the captured 1900 01:29:34,165 --> 01:29:35,625 could not only not look back, 1901 01:29:35,667 --> 01:29:38,503 they had no idea which way back might be. 1902 01:29:38,545 --> 01:29:41,131 There was nothing in the middle of the deep blue water 1903 01:29:41,172 --> 01:29:43,049 to indicate which way home might be. 1904 01:29:43,133 --> 01:29:46,511 And it was that moment when a decision had to be made. 1905 01:29:46,553 --> 01:29:47,887 Do they continue forward 1906 01:29:47,971 --> 01:29:50,181 with a resolve to see this thing through, 1907 01:29:50,223 --> 01:29:53,643 or do they embrace the waters and find another world?" 1908 01:29:55,520 --> 01:29:59,149 (WHALE SINGING ECHOING) 1909 01:29:59,190 --> 01:30:00,525 NIKKI: "In the belly of the ship, 1910 01:30:00,567 --> 01:30:01,818 the moan was heard. 1911 01:30:01,860 --> 01:30:05,321 And someone picked up that moan and a song was raised, 1912 01:30:05,363 --> 01:30:08,450 and that song would offer comfort and hope 1913 01:30:08,533 --> 01:30:09,826 and tell the story." 1914 01:30:20,420 --> 01:30:24,049 ♪ (THRILLING DREAMY MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪ 1915 01:30:35,226 --> 01:30:37,896 (BIRDS CHIRPING) 1916 01:30:40,440 --> 01:30:43,651 ♪ (MUSIC TURNS INTRIGUING) ♪ 1917 01:30:55,705 --> 01:30:57,916 ♪ (INTRIGUING MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪ 1918 01:30:57,957 --> 01:30:59,250 (BIRDS CHIRPING) 1919 01:31:16,643 --> 01:31:19,729 (WIND CHIMES RINGING) 1920 01:31:22,524 --> 01:31:24,734 (WHEELS RATTLING) 1921 01:31:31,282 --> 01:31:32,784 NIKKI: Make yourself, um... 1922 01:31:33,618 --> 01:31:34,786 comfortable. 1923 01:31:36,830 --> 01:31:40,125 ♪ (INTRIGUING MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪ 1924 01:32:16,036 --> 01:32:19,998 I had no idea what I was gonna see, 1925 01:32:20,081 --> 01:32:24,461 but I did not expect so many antiques. 1926 01:32:24,502 --> 01:32:26,087 That's for sure. 1927 01:32:30,759 --> 01:32:32,927 So many people writing in books, 1928 01:32:33,011 --> 01:32:36,348 like notes to her all around this room. 1929 01:32:36,431 --> 01:32:37,807 It's really cool. 1930 01:32:47,901 --> 01:32:52,030 So, I don't know much about people before us, 1931 01:32:52,113 --> 01:32:54,866 and how they lived, and where they came from. 1932 01:33:01,873 --> 01:33:04,167 LOU: (ON VIDEO) I would like to see young people, 1933 01:33:04,209 --> 01:33:06,336 Black young people, create, basically, 1934 01:33:06,378 --> 01:33:09,172 their own Black language for better communication. 1935 01:33:09,214 --> 01:33:10,882 NIKKI: I'm not talking about creating a language, 1936 01:33:10,924 --> 01:33:13,468 I'm talking about saying that my language is legitimate. 1937 01:33:13,551 --> 01:33:14,761 You know, I think so. 1938 01:33:14,844 --> 01:33:17,389 We use the language that we use. 1939 01:33:17,472 --> 01:33:18,848 They had an Italian Renaissance. 1940 01:33:18,890 --> 01:33:20,725 Dante and them wrote in the vernacular. 1941 01:33:20,809 --> 01:33:21,935 Well, we're doing the same thing. 1942 01:33:22,018 --> 01:33:23,353 We're talking about a Black renaissance, 1943 01:33:23,395 --> 01:33:25,146 writing in Black vernacular. That's what we're talking about. 1944 01:33:25,230 --> 01:33:26,731 I'm talking about coming out of the White Ages 1945 01:33:26,773 --> 01:33:28,191 rather than the dark ones, you dig? (LAUGHS) 1946 01:33:28,233 --> 01:33:29,734 LOU: We're coming out of that into the '70s... 1947 01:33:29,818 --> 01:33:32,153 Well, I think it’s really cool, how you could have 1948 01:33:32,237 --> 01:33:34,948 that much confidence at, like, 20-something. 1949 01:33:35,031 --> 01:33:37,867 I do not-- Well, I hope I will. 1950 01:33:37,909 --> 01:33:41,246 But to be able to speak like that, 1951 01:33:41,287 --> 01:33:42,831 it’s pretty awesome. 1952 01:33:42,914 --> 01:33:45,709 So, I hope I can do that at that age, 1953 01:33:45,750 --> 01:33:48,086 or hopefully younger. That would be ideal. 1954 01:33:48,128 --> 01:33:49,963 -NIKKI: Oh, you'll be fine. -(KAI LAUGHING) 1955 01:33:50,046 --> 01:33:51,756 You'll be fine. 1956 01:33:51,798 --> 01:33:54,926 -(AUDIENCE CLAPPING) -NIKKI: I'm a space freak. 1957 01:33:55,427 --> 01:33:56,720 I was able to go 1958 01:33:56,761 --> 01:33:59,014 on the SST, on the Supersonic Transport 1959 01:33:59,097 --> 01:34:01,808 actually from London back to New York, 1960 01:34:01,891 --> 01:34:03,476 because a friend of mine had died 1961 01:34:03,560 --> 01:34:05,103 and I wanted to be there at her funeral. 1962 01:34:05,186 --> 01:34:08,898 And the Supersonic-- SST, goes up 70,000 feet, 1963 01:34:08,940 --> 01:34:10,316 for those of you who don't know it. 1964 01:34:10,400 --> 01:34:14,529 And at 70,000 feet, you can see the curve of the Earth. 1965 01:34:14,612 --> 01:34:16,614 And I always wanted to be able to go 1966 01:34:16,656 --> 01:34:17,907 just a little bit higher. 1967 01:34:17,949 --> 01:34:19,784 I want to go to Space Station or something like that. 1968 01:34:19,868 --> 01:34:22,787 And I know Charles Bolden, who was the head of NASA. 1969 01:34:22,871 --> 01:34:24,914 Dr. Bolden said to me, you know, 1970 01:34:24,956 --> 01:34:27,334 "Nikki, I could take you to space. 1971 01:34:27,417 --> 01:34:28,460 You could do that, 1972 01:34:28,501 --> 01:34:31,087 but I couldn't bring you back." And I said, "Charles, 1973 01:34:31,129 --> 01:34:32,714 I don't know how to tell you this." 1974 01:34:32,797 --> 01:34:35,258 And maybe some of you don't understand. 1975 01:34:35,300 --> 01:34:36,843 (CHUCKLES) Let me share. 1976 01:34:36,926 --> 01:34:38,428 If you were born... 1977 01:34:38,887 --> 01:34:40,388 you're gonna die. 1978 01:34:40,472 --> 01:34:42,682 (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 1979 01:34:42,766 --> 01:34:45,143 And I thought, wouldn't that be really, just cool? 1980 01:34:45,185 --> 01:34:48,980 Because I'm 76 now, and maybe by the time I'm 80, 1981 01:34:49,064 --> 01:34:51,483 'cause I just wanna give myself few more years. 1982 01:34:51,524 --> 01:34:52,859 And when I'm 80, I'll go up 1983 01:34:52,942 --> 01:34:54,319 and I'll sit on the space station 1984 01:34:54,361 --> 01:34:55,236 for a couple of years, 1985 01:34:55,320 --> 01:34:58,656 'cause we don't have any artists in space. 1986 01:34:58,698 --> 01:35:00,867 We don't have any poets in space. 1987 01:35:00,950 --> 01:35:03,244 And I get to say what I've seen. 1988 01:35:03,328 --> 01:35:06,164 And then, you know, I'm gonna do what everybody else does, 1989 01:35:06,247 --> 01:35:07,165 I'm gonna die. 1990 01:35:07,207 --> 01:35:09,793 And what I want them to do is just open the-- 1991 01:35:09,834 --> 01:35:13,672 There's a door there. And I want-- just open the door 1992 01:35:13,713 --> 01:35:15,173 -and just let me out. -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 1993 01:35:15,215 --> 01:35:17,175 And you'll just look out, and you'll see me go and say, 1994 01:35:17,217 --> 01:35:19,678 -"There goes Nikki." And... -(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 1995 01:35:19,761 --> 01:35:22,305 -(LAUGHS) -(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) 1996 01:35:22,389 --> 01:35:25,517 ♪ (SOFT PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1997 01:35:25,600 --> 01:35:27,394 (BIRDS CHIRPING) 1998 01:35:38,530 --> 01:35:40,073 There's another one over there. 1999 01:35:43,326 --> 01:35:45,328 NIKKI: See, it's growing. 2000 01:35:47,872 --> 01:35:49,708 Now-- See, now, he came out. 2001 01:35:49,749 --> 01:35:52,168 This guy went and talked to him, I guess. 2002 01:35:56,297 --> 01:35:59,426 ♪ (SOFT PENSIVE MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪ 2003 01:35:59,509 --> 01:36:01,928 NIKKI: "To successfully go to Mars and back, 2004 01:36:02,012 --> 01:36:03,638 you will need a song. 2005 01:36:03,680 --> 01:36:06,099 Take some Billie Holiday for the sad days 2006 01:36:06,182 --> 01:36:08,393 and some Charlie Parker for the happy ones. 2007 01:36:08,476 --> 01:36:12,397 But always keep at least one good spiritual for comfort." 2008 01:36:15,400 --> 01:36:16,776 Yeah, I love that smell. 2009 01:36:16,860 --> 01:36:18,903 NIKKI: "You will need to slice or two of a meatloaf, 2010 01:36:18,987 --> 01:36:21,990 and if you can manage it, some fried chicken in a shoebox, 2011 01:36:22,073 --> 01:36:24,826 with a moist lemon pound cake, 2012 01:36:24,909 --> 01:36:25,952 a bottle of beer, 2013 01:36:26,036 --> 01:36:27,579 because no one should go that far 2014 01:36:27,662 --> 01:36:29,831 without a beer, and maybe a six pack, 2015 01:36:29,914 --> 01:36:32,959 so if there is life on Mars, you can share. 2016 01:36:33,043 --> 01:36:35,462 Popcorn for the celebration when you land, 2017 01:36:35,545 --> 01:36:38,131 while you wait on your land legs to kick in. 2018 01:36:38,214 --> 01:36:41,384 And as you climb down the ladder from your spaceship 2019 01:36:41,426 --> 01:36:42,761 to the Martian surface, 2020 01:36:42,802 --> 01:36:45,597 look to your left, and there you'll see 2021 01:36:45,680 --> 01:36:47,098 a smiling community 2022 01:36:47,140 --> 01:36:51,436 quilting a black-eyed pea, watching you descend." 2023 01:36:52,228 --> 01:36:53,438 (CHUCKLES) 2024 01:36:56,107 --> 01:37:00,153 ♪ (SOFT PENSIVE MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪ 2025 01:37:00,236 --> 01:37:03,281 (WAVES LAPPING) 2026 01:37:07,285 --> 01:37:11,331 (SEAGULLS SQUAWKING) 2027 01:37:17,962 --> 01:37:21,257 ♪ (SERENE DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 2028 01:38:22,527 --> 01:38:25,196 ♪ (SPIRITED PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 2029 01:39:19,334 --> 01:39:21,711 ♪ (SPIRITED PENSIVE MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪ 2030 01:39:21,753 --> 01:39:24,506 ♪ (MELLOW JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 2031 01:41:24,376 --> 01:41:27,128 ♪ (MELLOW JAZZ MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪